E-commerce technology startup – el-dokan, has announced closing a $550,000 pre-seed round, led by a group of local and regional investors including EFG EV, Flat6Labs, 500 Global, and Hala Ventures.
el-dokan primarily targets large retailers and chain stores seeking to expand their e-commerce market share, increase sales and operation automation.
Every retailer’s business strategy today includes e-commerce, and platforms and technology providers are vying to offer merchants the finest tools possible to help them expand and streamline their operations. In its most recent incarnation, el-dokan offers e-commerce APIs for large- and medium-sized retailers as well as startups, enabling them to create highly customized and personalized e-commerce stores. This is in contrast to businesses like Shopify and other regional shop builders whose focus is to address the needs of smaller retailers.
Utilizing headless e-commerce technology, el-dokan offers the optimal technology infrastructure that allows tech teams to develop highly customizable e-commerce with maximum flexibility to help businesses respond faster to changing business needs and keep up with the rapid changes in e-commerce.
According to Ahmed Maher, co-Founder and CEO of el-dokan, the company’s ability to gain investors’ trust and close its pre-Seed round is largely due to the fact that el-dokan is one of the extremely small number of businesses that focuses on developing advanced software using cutting-edge technologies like headless e-commerce architecture.
“The majority of retailers have repeatedly shown the willingness to either replace the traditional e-commerce methods with more advanced and flexible technology. The technology pioneered by el-dokan ‘changes the equation’ by helping retailers drive sales growth while simultaneously bringing down maintenance costs, making it possible for our retailers to quickly and easily develop APIs connections with our partners to ensure the highest levels of operational efficiency. Our technology can easily integrate with any third-party providers like payments, shipping, point of sale (POS) and (ERP) systems,” commented Mohamed Yousry, chief technology officer and co-founder of el-dokan.
“After seeing the great impact el-dokan has had on enterprise businesses in MENA, and the profound growth we’ve experienced over a short period of time, we’re excited about the fact that our clients managed to achieve $45m GMV after migrating from other global well-known software solutions that don’t meet the present-day challenges ours. We are now serving a global roster of clients such as Procter & Gamble (P&G), Misr Pharmacies, Mobily, Zahran stores and Apple Premium seller Switch Plus, along with grocery delivery app Appetito, among others. And this is a testament to the ability of regionally-based tech startups to develop leading-edge technologies trusted by large, international brands and compete with global counterparts,” Yousry explained.
Walid Hassouna, CEO of valU, Egypt’s leading buy now pay later (BNPL) platform, expressed his excitement over the company’s successful completion of its initial funding round which counts EFG EV among its earliest backers. Saying; “We are looking forward to exciting times ahead with el-dokan and its all-star team who are able to carve out a niche for themselves in the rapidly-evolving e-commerce market.”
