Back to the complete issue
Thursday, 25 October 2018

Egypt’s HitchHiker closes USD 200k angel round, Swvl gets some international ink

** #6 Egypt’s HitchHiker raises USD 200k in seed round: Cairo-based international shop-and-ship (with a twist) startup HitchHiker has secured USD 200k in seed funding from unnamed Dubai-based angel investors, the company said on its Facebook page. Founded last year by CEO Hussein El-Terawy and CTO Hassan Selim, the startup’s iOS and Android apps help shoppers save money by connecting them with travellers from around the world who earn a fee in exchange for muling items across the globe. The app has been downloaded about 8k times in the past month.

Another Egyptian startup that’s doing well: Swvl. With over 360k downloads on iOS and Android and a fleet of over 300 buses plying more than 100 routes across Egypt’s two largest cities, mass transit app SWVL runs 100k rides monthly and is looking to expand operations into Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Ventures Africa notes. Founded by three 25-year-olds in March 2017, the startup aims to provide Egyptians with a middle ground between expensive private transport and messy public transportation. “Around the world, public transportation is a loss-making machine. If you can take this load off the government and privatize it in a way that is super cheap and creates job opportunities, you are revitalizing a sector,” said co-founder Mostafa Kandil. Swvl set a record for a Series A funding round in Egypt back in April when it raised USD 8 mn.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.