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Monday, 24 October 2022

Real estate player Seqoon secures USD 500k in pre-seed round + B2B services marketplace Unlock lands first round of funding

Two local startups — one in real estate, the other in B2B services — announced six-figure funding rounds yesterday.

Real estate startup Seqoon has secured USD 500k in a pre-seed round led by Banque Misr through the lender’s fintech-focused pilot program. A number of angel investors also participated, according to a statement (pdf). Seqoon will use the capital to grow its team.

About Seqoon: Founded by Omar Eldessouky (LinkedIn) and Mohamed Elkhatieb (LinkedIn) last year, the startup lets people go in with up to eight other parties to buy part of a vacation home. The company currently only operates in El Gouna with plans to expand into other Red Sea destinations and the North Coast next year.

Timeshare startups are getting some love lately: Last month proptech startup Partment secured USD 1.5 mn in a pre-seed round led by Nclude. Its online platform allows people to purchase shares in a second home with up to seven other people. The company allocates each owner a quota of days to use the property and handles the management and maintenance.

UNLOCK LANDS FIRST FUNDING-

Egypt-based B2B services marketplace Unlock closed an undisclosed USD six-figure investment in its first funding round, the company said in a statement (pdf) yesterday. The angel investment round was led by Tarek Roushdy, head of local VC UI Investments, as well as other undisclosed angel investors.

What is Unlock? Launched in 2020 by Fady Younan (LinkedIn) and Mona El Kheshen (LinkedIn), the company operates an AI-powered B2B marketplace connecting businesses with agencies offering professional services such as marketing, software development, accounting, and consultancy. Two hundred agencies are currently using the platform and have received service matching requests worth more than USD 3 mn from some 600 companies, El Kheshen tells Enterprise.

Where will the money go? The funds — which El Kheshen tells us came in at less than USD 500k — will be used to further develop the company’s AI-matching, procurement, and payments tech and to expand Unlock’s services to reach new companies.

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