Tech in Africa
With most customers unable to freely visit offline stores due to the disruption of movement brought about by the pandemic, e-commerce is playing a big role in the development of both existing and startup businesses. One good example of an innovative company offering furniture purchase options to customers from the comfort of their homes is Homzmart. This e-commerce marketplace simplifies the purchase of furniture across the Middle East.
Homzmart has raised $15 million in Serie A. The raise was led by China’s MSA Capital and Nuwa Capital alongside participation from Impact46, Outliers Ventures, Rise Capital, and EQ2 Ventures. This investment will go into expanding the startup’s presence across the region. The online marketplace retailing home goods and furniture launched in 2020 and has thus far over 55,000 products listed on its platform.
Homzmart was founded by Mahmoud Ibrahim (CEO) and Ibrahim Mohammed (COO). Mahmoud was the former COO of Daraz, a leading online shopping and selling platform in SE Asia. Ibrahim has experience working with Egypt’s Jumia logistics development.
As the CEO Mahmoud explains how they seized the opportunity to “digitize shopping” in furniture and other home goods. He also described the region’s market as huge and pointing out that “Our business model is perfectly suited for it”
Ben Harburg from MSA Capital described the old way of doing things in the Middle East pre-pandemic as “archaic” and described Hozmart as the next generation “digitally-enabled online marketplace and optimized logistics provider.”
Sarah Abu Risheh at Nuwa Capital pointed out that Hozmart had ” a solid trajectory” going further to describe the startup as a “truly exceptional company.”
Statements from the press release shared on Wamda
