Cartona, a B2B platform connecting retailers to manufacturers and wholesalers announces its $4.5 million Pre-Series A fundraise. The round was led by Global Ventures, a Dubai-based, international venture capital firm, with participation from Kepple Africa Ventures, T5 Ventures, and a group of angel investors.

Basil Moftah, General Partner at Global Ventures, said: “The trade market is one of the most sophisticated, yet characterised by multiple critical inefficiencies across the value chain. Cartona’s asset-light approach tackles those inefficiencies by optimising the trade process in unique ways, and does so with minimal capital spent. The company has already demonstrated consistently stellar growth over the past year. We are thrilled to partner with the company’s solid, highly capable and experienced founding team on their third entrepreneurial journey”.

Cartona will use the funds to invest in deepening the capabilities of the technology to further enhance the user experience and introduce embedded finance within the product and order cycle. 

Mahmoud Abdelfattah, Mahmoud Talaat, Rafik Zaher founded Cartona in August 2020 in a bid to solve the supply-chain and operational challenges for the fast-moving consumer goods industry (FMCG) by digitizing the traditional, predominantly offline, trade market. The startup offers an asset-light marketplace that enables grocery retailers to order their store needs digitally from a curated network of sellers.

Mahmoud Talaat, CEO and Co-founder of Cartona, said: “Small and medium retailers deserve the opportunity to operate their businesses efficiently while delivering growth simultaneously. To do so, they need access to credit, inventory and payment services. We are dedicated to empowering the B2B ecosystem through technology and supply chain innovation. Cartona is committed to building a strong network of digitally connected retailers that have better control over their businesses through running a seamless daily operation”

Since its inception, the startup has acquired over 30,000 users in Cairo and Alexandria alone. It has processed over 400,000 delivered orders with an annualized gross merchandise value of EGP 1 billion. Cartona works with 100 FMCG companies, 1,000 distributors, and wholesalers, offering consumers over 10,000 products listed on its platform including dry, fresh, and frozen food.

Historically, Egyptian retailers have had limited access to suppliers, as well as very limited visibility on rapidly changing market prices, available trade offers, and have been dependent on traditional logistical capabilities. Cartona is designed to eliminate inefficiencies across the value chain, from buyers to sellers, by providing enhanced visibility through real-time price comparisons, and superior clarity on delivery times, while allowing FMCGs and suppliers to optimize their go-to-market execution through the use of data and analytics.