OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK- Every Tuesday, Founder of the Week looks at how a successful member of Egypt’s startup community got their big break, asks about their experiences running a business, and gets their advice for budding entrepreneurs. Speaking to us this week is Ahmed Abouelenin (LinkedIn), co-founder of Survv and Takery.

We started Survv in 2017 with the goal of digitizing the F&B market in Egypt. We saw that globally there was a huge trend for people ordering at home instead of dining out. This trend has always existed in Egypt — not just in the F&B sector. From around 1999, you could have anything delivered; groceries delivered from your local store or your laundry.

Delivery was originally an Eastern trend. It started in the East, where employing people isn’t as expensive as in Western countries. It was pretty hard to find someone in 2006-2007 in the US that you can pay to deliver products. We have that need in Egypt and it’s already a consumer habit. When Uber Eats and Postmates appeared in the West they made a dramatic change, disrupting the market.

We had an easier job than those companies: We didn’t have to create a delivery market because it already existed. All we had to do was digitize what was being done, which is a completely different philosophy from most Western companies that entered the Egyptian market.

We started by digitizing the fleet that was on ground. Survv built connections with restaurants, created its own fleet, then started operating as a B2B company. We went to local players that already offered delivery services and we provided them with technology, logistics, and software to help them do what they were already doing, but better.

We didn’t have much competition and we helped fill a gap in the market. We grew dramatically in the first three years without really burning money and scaled up to around 3 mn orders in a very short period of time.

Simultaneously, we were launching Takery, which was the first company specialized in establishing and managing cloud hubs in Egypt. We realized that the last mile problem is not just about a rider delivering something from point A to point B. Most of the vendors we work for need to deliver their orders within 30-40 minutes and they want to be present all around Cairo. And suddenly having a branch or two wasn’t enough, especially after the outbreak of covid-19.

The best part of the job is getting to work with a broad spectrum of different people, from delivery riders to F&B CEOs and multiregional F&B firms and seeing how you could easily give them a tool that could fix lack of communication through a simple application. The idea of being the middleman and knowing that a very easily implemented feature could solve a huge problem for them is always exciting.

The most important KPIs we look at are how much we are growing, how much added value we’re adding on a daily basis to all our partners and profitability.

In the past three months, Takery has raised USD 3 mn from angel investors and Washington-based VC Openner. Survv received funding from my own pocket, along with funding from angel investors and Openner. We’re looking to raise more funding for both startups over the coming year or so.

We are currently working to make sure we cover all local needs, but it’s not just about growth, the aim is to have profitable growth. Until we fulfill the local need, I don’t think we have any reason to expand geographically. I believe our product is best suited for Egypt, and I don’t think we’ll be seeing any expansion abroad for the next three years.

My very first startup was a UK-based company called Coin Court. It was a blockchain company and enabled users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies online. I started the company in 2014, scaled it to around 1k-2k orders on a daily basis and then moved back to Egypt.

I was always very attracted to the tech business sector and have always been a tech enthusiast. Ever since the age of 8, I used to make my own platforms, websites and apps.

Being a startup founder may appear to be a lonely journey but I don’t think anyone who’s actually on that journey feels lonely. You’re too deep into what you’re doing, and to me it felt like more of an adventure.

The last book I read was The Big Red Book by Rumi. I enjoy poetry, and my main enjoyment is reading. I’m always reading whether it’s news or books.

I always turn to my father when in need of inspiration. He managed to build his own business from the ground up. I also look at successful founders that are in a similar position as I am.