Fawry invests in Sudan classifieds and marketplace platform alSoug

Fawry has announced an investment into alsoug.com, Sudan’s largest Classifieds, and Marketplace Platform. This is its first overseas venture capital investment by Fawry outside its Egypt home market.

The deal involves the acquisition of a strategic minority stake in alsoug.com/Cashi holding company wherein the investment will be channeled towards the development of a new fintech platform Cashi. This $5m round will help the company’s catalyzing the involvement of other strategic western venture capital players.

As a strategic investor Fawry will leverage its long track record with white label technology solutions to assist the platform to scale and enhance the platform’s merchant acquisition operation while refining its go-to-market approach and offering valuable insights that inform high-level strategies across all other businesses segments.

Fawry is an e-payment solution provider and digital banking service provider. It was back in September when Fawry invested in Brimore, an Egypt social commerce startup. Fawry has established a strategic partnership with the Sudanese consumer platform with an eye to scaling up its payments technology platform beyond Egypt

alSoug was founded in 2016 by an excellent team of entrepreneurs. alSoug is today Sudan’s leading consumer internet platform and digital marketplace. The company is one of the country’s most downloaded on Google App’s over two million times. Sellers can list virtually everything on their platform from cars, real estate, services, and other commodities.

Commenting on the investment, Fawry CEO Eng. Ashraf Sabry expressed delight in the new partnership with alsoug going further to describe the company as “one of Sudan’s most exciting prospects and a Sudanese leader in tech innovation.”

Alsoug CEO Tarneem (Nina) Saeed described the investment as “a significant milestone not just for alsoug, but for the nascent tech space in Sudan as a whole.” She further pointed out alSoug’s intent to expand past the classifieds and marketplace space into payments.