The social commerce platform Sharwa has announced the completion of a $2 million pre-seed investment round. Nuwa Capital and Hambro Perks Oryx Fund co-led the round, while a number of key angel investors also participated.
The pre-seed investment will be used to grow the team and continue to improve the technological platform.
Globally, households are feeling the effects of inflation, and consumers are looking for products that are more accessible and less expensive. Sharwa wants to assist users in doing just that, beginning with Egypt.
Customers can get the lowest pricing on daily necessities including food, appliances, and home care through Sharwa’s website.
Customers who use Sharwa can consolidate their carts into a single order and place it through WhatsApp or the Sharwa app, gaining access to next-day deliveries at wholesale prices from producers.
Sharwa works with regional community leaders who have utilized the service as Super Users to gather orders in their region to give service in remote locations.
Products can be purchased by individuals or groups of people at two price points. When a customer invites someone to shop with them or joins an existing group formed by other customers, discounts that are up to 40% off retail pricing become available.
“The experience we hope to give is analogous to going to a megastore with family; one person is pulling around the same cart and everyone is allowed to throw stuff in,” said Alaa Shalaby, Chief Executive Officer.
All of you profit from the reduced prices that are unlocked in our model. Customers adore using our service as a weapon to combat inflation.
The chief operating officer, Hassan El Shourbagi, stated: “We allow regional producers to contact as many clients as they can in a data-driven manner to achieve the most efficient supply chain.
We have established a complete value chain, sourcing from producers and distributing to clients, allowing producers to concentrate on their core competencies.”
Mohamed Hanafy, Chief Product Officer, stated: “We have yet to see technology that is tailored for the first-time internet users. With a discovery mindset, we are solving day-to-day needs. And have designed our experience to be simpler, more social and trustworthy.”
Arnav Danthi, Nuwa Capital, commented: “Throughout our conversations with Alaa, Hassan and Hanafy, we were impressed with each individually.
They were each operationally experienced and had extensive experience scaling leading, regional tech startups. It was their combined team dynamic, camaraderie and deep passion for their business that finalized our conviction.”
“We’re thrilled to assist a platform like Sharwa, which has recognized a significant need for today’s consumers in Egypt and is tackling it by utilizing technology and social connection,” said Ivo Detelinov of Hambro Perks Oryx Fund.
We are excited to watch how the leadership team expands the Sharwa platform because they have demonstrated success in the region’s innovative and profitable consumer businesses.”
Techbuil’s Take
Sharwa, which was established earlier this year by Hassan El Shourbagi, Alaa Shalaby, and Mohamed Hanafy, intends to close the gap between Egypt’s high social media usage and low rates of e-commerce acceptance.
The Sharwa team draws on its cumulative prior expertise in strategy, market expansion, operations, and product development at Careem, Kitopi, Capiter, Halan, and Delivery Hero’s Hungerstation.
Tens of thousands of consumers have visited Sharwa’s platform since it launched, thanks to the company’s rapid growth.
The service is operational in Cairo and the surrounding areas, with a 12-month development plan to make it available throughout the rest of Egypt and handle hundreds of thousands of orders.
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