Cartona is an online platform digitising Egypt’s traditional trade market for everyone from mom-and-pops to hotels and caterers.
Egyptian B2B trade startup Cartona has raised $8.1 million in a Series A extension led by Algebra Ventures, Egypt’s leading tech venture capital firm. Cartona’s existing investors – Silicon Badia and the SANAD Fund for MSME – also participated. This latest round of funding adds to Cartona’s significant existing cash potion following a previous $12 million Series A funding round in July 2022, led by Silicon Badia.
Cartona has pioneered an online platform that has facilitated the digitisation of Egypt’s traditional trade market, empowering stakeholders including mom-and-pop stores, hotels, restaurants, cafes, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies, and wholesalers alike.
“Our operational and financial metrics are all progressing very positively which has helped us to attract capital from existing and new investors,” Mahmoud Talaat, Co-Founder and CEO of Cartona, tells StartupScene. “We have an exciting future ahead, replicating the successful execution of our business model in other regional markets.”
The new injection of funding is set to further accelerate Cartona’s growth across several verticals including FMCG and Hotel, Restaurant, and Café/Catering (HoReCa), whilst also establishing foundations for regional expansion in MENA, and exploring possible B2B2C opportunities.
Cartona maintains an asset-light business model which remains a major competitive differentiator, especially amid an inflationary environment. Thus far, Cartona has on-boarded over 188,000 businesses across 17 Egyptian cities onto its platform.