Led · Series C · Mar 2023

almentor operates an Arabic online video learning platform offering courses for individuals, corporations, and government entities. The company has worked with more than 950 mentors to create over 1,000 online courses and recently launched monthly and annual subscription plans providing unlimited access to a library of over 700 courses. Course topics include health, humanities, technology, entrepreneurship, business management, lifestyle, drama, sports, corporate communication, and digital media. almentor targets a market of more than 400 million Arabic speakers with underserved educational needs. The company plans to increase investment in its B2C segment and expand into Saudi Arabia. Leadership includes CEO Dr. Ihab Fikry, COO Ibrahim Kamel, and other named executives responsible for customer, technology, business development, finance, and content production. Almentor operates a continuous e-learning platform curating top-rated video-based training programs and talks delivered by subject-matter experts, available through both B2C and B2B channels. The platform offers what it describes as the largest high-quality Arabic video learning library, including paid courses, free talks, crash courses and books. Almentor reports over 2 million successful learning experiences and more than 80 enterprise partnerships across the MENA region. The company was founded by Dr. Ihab Fikry and Ibrahim Kamel, is Dubai, UAE–based, launched in 2016 and officially rolled out its platform in January 2018. Financially, Almentor has raised $6.5M in a Series B that brings total funding to $14.5M since inception. Investors and the company say the next phase of growth will focus on expanding access to the estimated 430 million Arabic-speaking population.

Participated · Seed · Dec 2022

Suplyd provides an end-to-end digital procurement solution for small and medium-sized restaurants, replacing fragmented daily orders with a single streamlined platform. The product connects operators with hundreds of quality products, offers real-time analytics, and delivers procurement insights to simplify restaurant supply procurement. The company intends to expand operations and its development efforts and to enter untapped areas across Egypt while accelerating the development of new service verticals. Suplyd has shown strong operational growth since its 2022 pre-seed, growing nearly 20x in restaurants served and value of goods delivered. Today it serves over 5,000 restaurant customers and continues to roll out new operational tools and services. Suplyd operates a B2B procurement platform for HoReCa businesses that digitizes order procurement, payment and fulfillment, giving restaurants on-demand access to a wide range of SKUs at competitive prices. The platform aims to bring an e-commerce experience to restaurant supply chains, reduce waste, optimize assets and save time by replacing offline sourcing and manual supplier follow-ups. Suplyd also runs a network of tech-enabled fulfillment centers that provide real-time analytics and demand-pattern insights to inform stocking and guarantee fulfillment. The company was founded in January this year and is currently serving 500 customers in greater Cairo, reporting nearly 50% month-over-month growth since launch. Suplyd plans to use the new funding to scale its technology, expand within and beyond Cairo and explore additional growth opportunities across the MENA region.

Led · Seed · Apr 2022

Pylon builds software that gathers grid data, analyzes it to detect theft and losses, and automates billing while offering smart metering-as-a-service (SMaaS) with no upfront hardware cost. The platform serves more than 1 million metering endpoints across 26 meter models for over 12 utilities (seven private, five public) in Egypt and the Philippines. Pylon says it can reduce utility losses to 8% and cut emissions by 25% for subscribing utilities, and it has a goal of achieving 1 gigaton of CO2 reduction by 2035. The company grew revenues 3.5x in 2021 and claims to be profitable. Founded and bootstrapped by CEO Ahmed Ashour and CTO Omar Radi since 2017, Pylon plans to reach 3 million meters next year (a 4x year‑on‑year increase) and to expand into Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. The startup estimates a market opportunity of over $20 billion across 10 emerging markets, initially focusing on a quarter of that opportunity covering Egypt, the Philippines, Brazil and Africa.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2022

Thndr operates a digital retail investment platform that provides access to local and U.S. stocks, gold, mutual funds and savings products. The platform holds regulatory licences from Egypt's Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) FSRA. Founded in 2020 by Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr, Thndr says it is helping millions take control of their financial futures. The company intends to use its latest funding to support regional expansion, naming the UAE and Saudi Arabia as priority markets. Financially, Thndr raised $15.7M in the reported round and has raised a total of $37.76M to date. Thndr is an Egyptian mobile investing app that simplifies opening and managing brokerage accounts for retail users in Egypt and the wider MENA region. Launched in late 2020 by Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr and backed by Y Combinator, it currently provides access to the Egyptian stock market and mutual funds through a consumer-focused app with educational tools (simulators, articles, videos, webinars, podcasts and newsletters). The platform emphasizes low barriers to entry—commission-free trading, no deposit or withdrawal charges and no account minimums—and monetizes via subscriptions, revenue-share agreements with asset managers and float on idle cash. Thndr has shown strong traction: more than 300,000 downloads, assets under custody grew 29x in 2021, 87% of users invested for the first time via the app, 36% of new registrations on Egyptian exchanges in 2021 came through Thndr, and 40% of users are outside Cairo and Alexandria. The company plans to add U.S. securities and other foreign assets via partner brokers, pursue a GCC regulatory licence, and expand across the MENA region. The recent funding is earmarked for product development and regional expansion as Thndr builds an "investment supermarket" of local and international investment products.

Led · Series A · Jan 2022

Brimore is an Egyptian omnichannel social-commerce platform that connects small and medium manufacturers to independent sellers (many of them women) via an app and proprietary technology. The company operates an ecosystem of supply, demand, logistics and finance, and runs warehousing and last-mile fulfillment through a spin-off called Milezmore. Founded in 2017, Brimore hosts more than 300 suppliers, roughly 8,000 SKUs and a network of 75,000 sellers (74% women) across 27 primarily rural Egyptian cities. Over the past three years the company says it has grown around 400x in revenue, and sellers report significant income and lifestyle improvements. Brimore captures margin between supplier and seller prices and supports sellers with order placement and flexible delivery options. Future plans include expanding logistics and operational capacity, doubling staff, tripling the product catalog, quadrupling sellers and suppliers, introducing financial products (notably credit) and replicating its go-to-market model across other African markets. Brimore is a social commerce platform that provides small and medium-sized manufacturers in Egypt with nationwide distribution through a network of freelance sellers who also recruit others into the network. The platform includes supply-chain and payment facilities and lists thousands of consumer products across categories like packaged foods, personal care, and household goods. Brimore says it serves hundreds of SMEs and has enabled tens of thousands of social sellers operating across all 27 governorates in Egypt. Its sellers collectively reach over a million consumers, and typical sellers—many women—earn hundreds of dollars per month. The company reports tenfold year-on-year growth and plans to invest in product development, operational infrastructure, technology, data analytics, and smart financial solutions. Management also intends to expand the team to support continued growth and to strengthen on-the-ground operations alongside digital capabilities. Brimore is a technology-enabled direct-selling distribution platform that lets manufacturers list products and reach consumers through a network of freelance sales agents. Founded in March 2017 by Mohamed Abdulaziz, Ahmed Sheikha, and Mahmoud Refaay in Egypt, it helps small local manufacturers sell directly to consumers and extends channels into rural areas. Agents can consume products themselves, sell to friends, relatives and neighbors, or stock small neighborhood stores; 92% of distributors are women. The company builds its marketing and distribution channel on data analytics and social networks and currently works with over 20 local manufacturers across multiple categories. Brimore says it plans to grow in other emerging markets in Africa and will use the new funding to build manufacturing-side technology and improve its platform.