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Tuesday, 21 December 2021

Waste collection startup Bekia plans USD 1 mn Gulf expansion for 1Q2022

Startup Bekia is looking to raise USD 1 mn to help it expand to the UAE and Saudi Arabia in 1Q2022, CEO Alaa Afifi told Al Mal. The company hopes to close an initial USD 1 mn round in the first quarter of next year and will deploy the funds for its expansion, as well as to develop its existing services and attract new customers, Afifi said.

Bekia rewards you for your trash: The online platform allows users to exchange solid waste such as old electronics, plastic, paper and tin for goods and services such as groceries, mobile credit and metro tickets. The waste is then sold to recycling factories and SMEs.

The company hopes to grow its business by 25% in 2022. The firm, which currently operates in Cairo, Giza and Alexandria with a fleet of 20 trucks, is also planning an expansion into other governorates, he added. The company raised a USD six-figure investment from Oman-based OTF Wadi in 2019.

Sakneen launches new algorithmic pricing tool: You can now see estimated market value, cost-to-finish and rental potential of homes in major residential compounds on a map through real estate portal Sakneen’s new algorithmic pricing tool, according to a press release (pdf). The tool uses data points such as land cost, location, and previous sale values to estimate home prices and help home buyers make smarter decisions, said CEO and co-founder Ramy Khorshed (Morning Routine).

Next steps: The tool is launching with projects in 6 of October City, including Palm Hills, New Giza and Pyramid Heights, and is set to expand to East Cairo, Downtown and the North Coast.

About Sakneen: Launched in 2020, Sakneen is a real estate marketplace aiming to connect real estate developers and agents directly with prospective homebuyers, mainly through a search engine that allows users to search for homes through filters like down payment, monthly payment, NPV and travel times. The startup raised USD 1.1 mn in an oversubscribed seed round led by Algebra Ventures earlier this year, following a USD 150k pre-seed round from Y Combinator last year.

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