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.