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VC firm Innoventures is in talks with a potential limited partner based in the GCC for its EGP 200 mn VC fund, Al Mal reports, quoting Innoventures partner Rafik Dalala. Bringing this investor aboard would allow the fund to invest in GCC-based startups alongside its focus on Egypt, Dalala said. The local investment firm has so far raised EGP 20 mn for the fund it set up in December 2019. Dalala initially told the newspaper the fund was targeting raising EGP 100 mn, but this appears to have been revised upwards. He noted at the time that the fund will be targeting local tech startups. The fund’s first close has also been interrupted by the pandemic, Dalala said yesterday. Innoventures is an Egypt-based VC firm that has invested in early stage startups across a range of industries.

ALSO FROM PLANET STARTUP- Dubai-based payment-on-delivery logistics startup iMile has launched in Egypt, bringing its services to Cairo and Suez, according to a statement carried by Trade Arabia. The company has reached partnership agreements with two unnamed “e-commerce market leaders” in the country and is looking to cooperate with SMEs to work on door-to-door delivery, the statement says. iMile said it was eyeing regional expansion to Egypt, Kuwait, and Morocco when it raised USD 10 mn in a pre-series A funding round last year. The company, founded by Chinese entrepreneur Rita Huang, connects MENA customers to e-commerce sellers based in China, and provides “first-mile, international mile, and localized last-mile delivery services.”