Egyptian Contech startup Elmawkaa raises six-figure Seed round
Cairo-based construction tech e-Commerce startup Elmawkaa has raised a six-figure Seed round led by Flat6labs and joined by a Group of Oqal angels from Saudi Arabia after joining 500 Startups in Misk second batch in 2019.
Elmawkaa was founded in 2017 by the trio of Ebrahem Anwar, Mahmoud Habib, and Mohamed Thabet. Elmawkaa aims to simplify the buying and selling of building materials easier through its matching algorithms.
Elmawkaa’s platform allows customers who are looking to buy building materials can use the website to request quotations through high-quality suppliers on the platform and compare between them.
We are not a listing or ordinary marketplace, we are digitalizing and innovating the process of buying building materials through a bidding process and our matching algorithms, which we built with our hands that deliver accurate and competitive quotations based on our experience in engineering, business, and software development in the last decade” said Ebrahem Anwar, the co-founder and CEO of Elmawkaa while speaking about how they’re difference between Elmawkaa and other contech startups.
“Our plan is to be the best at the domain we compete in and make the purchasing process seamless.
“Many sceptics told us because we are the first movers we will not succeed but we believed in the relentless team we have and in our experience in construction and technology,” Anwar said.
CBO of Elmawkaa, Mohamed Thabet said: “I still remember the first campaign we have launched and the first client we have dealt with. It was too vague to figure out the best way to penetrate the market and generate revenues as well. Shall we start with suppliers or contractors? How can we ensure our customers’ satisfaction? But after many A/B tests, experiments, and exerting a double effort to deal with our shortages, we were able to determine an inclusive framework of where to start.”
“Our success in striking partnerships with the biggest suppliers and key players in the market was a strong validation for what we are offering to the market,” said Thabet.
By 2022, Elmawkaa plans to onboard 2,000 suppliers, reach 4,000 transactions with $2 million GMV. By 2023, it aspired to penetrate all cities across the nation, onboard more than 4,000 suppliers, and list more than 10,000 products, 11,000 transactions worth $6 million GMV. By 2024, it plans to expand to Saudi Arabia, starting with Riyadh and expecting to reach $30 million GMV.