After four years of largely functioning as a logistics marketplace, Egypt’s Voo has renamed SideUp and shifted its approach to providing a full range of e-commerce support services, including payment gateways, and API integration for shipping, warehousing, fulfillment, and advising.
After collecting USD 1.2 million in venture capital, the firm has also expanded to Saudi Arabia, where it will now be. Launch Africa VC, 500 Global, Riyadh Angels, Alex Angels, Al Tuwaijri Fund, and Saudi angel investor Faisal AlAbdulsalam participated in the newest round.
Waleed Rashed, founder and CEO of SideUp, said that he was motivated to connect small businesses to e-commerce help after learning major service providers were overlooking them.
“There is a lot of discussion about how e-commerce is growing, but we are still not enabling enough of those (micro, small, and medium firms) that sell online.” “To be successful, merchants require a wide range of services and a comprehensive environment,” explained Rashed.
“That’s why I chose to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises; SideUp is for village traders or those selling things on Instagram, Facebook, or WhatsApp. They have access to all services, from the courier company to warehousing and fulfilment to marketing services.”
SideUp’s partner service providers enable merchants to sell in 45 countries, according to Rashed, opening up new markets previously unreachable to small businesses.
SideUp supports 2,000 e-commerce enterprises, which may also benefit from cash collection services and credit to help them grow. Its portfolio has increased by 30% monthly, with over USD 500,000 in GMV every month.
Dr. Khalid Al Tawil, the co-founder of Riyadh Angels, stated, “Ecommerce remains dispersed across much of the area, posing a variety of issues for company owners.” SideUp’s platform is a giant step forward, providing them with a single point of contact for partners and technology to help them grow their businesses exponentially. We are delighted to have them visit Saudi Arabia and assist companies in their next stage of development.”
To exploit the increasing e-commerce market in multiple locations, the business wants to scale in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and expand to at least two additional countries before the end of 2023.
According to a Mordor Intelligence analysis, the Middle East and Africa e-commerce markets will increase by more than 11.5% over the next five years, driven by internet and smartphone usage, urbanization, and mobile purchasing, and as more firms embrace e-commerce.
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