ILLA, an FMCG delivery logistics marketplace has successfully raised $500,000 in seed fund from Averroes VC, AUC Angels and a consortium of local and regional strategic angel investors with follow-on funding from Flat6Labs Cairo. 

ILLA caters to the big corporates and SMEs alike, with full-fledged transportation and logistics  solutions tackling major pain points unique to the FMCG industry. While innovating around logistics is  challenging, it’s even more so within an ever-growing industry, and that’s why ILLA is uniquely poised  to capture considerable market share both locally and regionally for their exclusive focus and  innovation around this industry. Today, they operate within 24  governorates across Egypt, delivering 7 million cases so far and spanning more that 3 million kilometers. 

“The ailing logistics and delivery sector is at a turning point, with Illa well-positioned due to their solid  team, unique market know-how, and the strength of their solution. We are really pleased to support  their growth and be a part of this round.”

Mariam Kamel, AUC Angels.  

The new investment round will enable ILLA to further capitalize on its position as a leader in FMCG  Delivery Logistics industry in Egypt ,where delivery logistics is being constantly disrupted with new  technology and market dynamics. ILLA is striving to maintain its leadership positioning as the delivery  logistics arm to FMCG companies as well as SMEs while enriching the customer journey and  deepening relationships within the value chain. Tech transformation is a key area of focus for ILLA,  which enables its clients to manage their existing and outsourced fleets seamlessly and provide them  with elaborate analytics and market insights, to make better decisions and deliver superior quality to  their customers. The funding will also drive further local expansion and exploration of regional  markets to operate in next. 

Mahmoud El- Zomor, ILLA’s CEO and co-founder, comes from a family deeply rooted in the distribution industry, whereas he held several positions in multinational FMCG corporates like Coca Cola and Clorox. He then embarked on a journey of innovation around traditional logistics with technology disruption and launched ILLA with his three childhood friends who span a diverse range of experiences across the FMCG industry as well.

Before becoming the commercial director and co-founder of ILLA, Alaa Jarkas used to work as an account sales manager at Juhayna as well as past experiences in Saudi Arabia as an operation officer in oil and gas service company. Ahmed Sakr, COO and co-founder of ILLA used to work  as an account manager at Coca Cola Egypt, and as a financial advisor in the foreign exchange market  before that and lastly the one in charge of the tech innovation that’s at the very core of ILLA. Whereas Hossam Saraya the CTO and co-founder of ILLA, began his career as a software engineer and has been leading multinational software teams to deliver scalable, usable, highly available and data driven software products. 

ILLA launched officially in March 2019, through Flat6Labs Cairo accelerator. In just two years, they managed to gain the trust and support of major local companies and multinational household names, such as Coca Cola,  P&G, Nestle and Pepsico while also empowering big local ones alike, and the road ahead continues to  be ever so promising for the company.

“We at Averroes are always on the quest of backing up exceptional startups and we have established  this earlier in the logistics technology domain. We believe in ILLA’s vision in providing high quality  customized distribution solutions and in the value of its offering in serving FMCGs in an innovative  and effective manner. ILLA’s exceptional team of diversified backgrounds are surely capable and well equipped in becoming a key player in the future of the logistics technology industry.”

Dr. Ahmed  Alsharif, Founding Partner and CEO, Averroes Ventures.