Egypt’s YFS raises $7M in Series A funding

Yalla Fel Sekka (YFS), the Egyptian on-demand logistics provider specialising in instant delivery and dark store management, has raised $7 million in a Series A round. This funding round was led by DisruptAD, ADQ’s venture platform.

YFS provides the only reliable and affordable instant delivery service for businesses in urban communities in Egypt – the largest and fastest-growing economy in the MENA region. With its digital platform and diverse fleet of 1,000 drivers of motorcycles and vans, YFS is already pioneering the instant delivery sector for groceries, food, e-commerce consolidators, retailers and pharmaceutical products in the country. YFS is building the critical infrastructure backbone for next-generation logistics services in the region and is seeking to develop the broadest urban distributed network of dark stores and micro-warehouses in Egypt.

“We are now delivering over 10,000 orders per day while being gross margin positive only 18 months after launch in a vibrant but competitive market. Our gross merchandise volume is growing at a monthly rate of 20% and our customer retention is above 90%,” said Yasmine Abdel Karim, CEO and co-founder of YFS.

In 2021, 640 African tech start-ups raised a total of $5.2B across 681 equity rounds. This 3.6x YoY growth makes Africa tech VC the world’s fastest-growing ecosystem.

Co-founded by Khashayar Mahdavi and Yasmine Abdel Karim, YFS has become the country’s top provider in the field through its experienced ops team and constant efficiency gains, leading to a high utilisation rate. YFS is leveraging its proprietary, data-driven technology to meet customers expectations of near-instant deliveries. The company has grown exponentially since it launched operations in March 2020 and has already completed two million deliveries in Egypt. YFS has expanded its operations in 5 cities including Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Mansoura, and Tanta.

“We are very pleased to welcome DisruptAD alongside our original seed investors as we see tremendous growth and opportunities ahead. YFS’s accelerating growth in its fleet size, a pool of drivers, micro-warehouses and dark stores is creating a powerful network effect, enabling us to dominate instant delivery in Egypt,” added Khashayar Mahdavi, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of YFS.

YFS will be deploying the new funding to expand its presence in cities across Egypt and the MENA region while continuing to build out its network of hubs and optimize productivity. It will focus on furthering its leadership in machine learning and in developing its innovative operational strategies.

Amer Al Ameri, Head of Venture Capital and Technology Investments at ADQ, added: “Supporting the YFS team and their execution capabilities represents our long-term commitment to boost impactful future-focused solutions. We are actively deploying capital into innovative businesses to sustain value creation with long-term economic benefits. By bolstering YFS’s development plans we will enable Khashayar and Yasmine to expand their leadership position in Egypt and beyond.”

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Featured image: YFS