Investor Updates: April 8 2022 - Egypt’s PIE acquires online marketplace Exits

Egypt’s PIE acquires online marketplace Exits

Highlights

• Egypt-based Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Advisory Firm PIE has acquired Exits, a regional online marketplace for buying and selling websites, apps, and traditional businesses for an unknown amount.
• Founded in 2022 by Mohamed Aboulnaga, PIE is a firm focused on mergers and acquisitions for startups and SMEs.
• Exits is a Cairo-based buying/selling mediator for companies that connect buyers and sellers anonymously, with the option of reviewing key metrics to find the right fit.

Source: Wamda

Our Takeaway

As M&A deals heat up in the African tech landscape, PIE’s acquisition of Exits gives the former an opportunity to build the “Microacquire” of the African continent. That would make it easier for smaller companies to gain more visibility among investors and eventually list on a marketplace, as well as for buyers to be able to search for potential acquisitions easily online.

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Saudi GLT Express acquires Egypt’s Gallop Express

Highlights

• Saudi Arabia-based logistics company GLT Express has acquired Gallop Express, an Egyptian logistics startup for an undisclosed sum.
• Founded in 2016 by Alzamil, GLT Express is the logistics arm of Global Logistics and Technology (GLT) Holdings that provides logistics solutions, including fulfillment, last-mile delivery, freight, and global address.
• The acquisition of Gallop is part of GLT’s plans to expand its operations beyond the GCC countries and into further countries in the Mena region.

Source: Wamda

Our Takeaway

On the back of muted growth in 2021, merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the African tech landscape continue to heat up this year. There have been at least 16 such transactions involving African startups so far in 2022 across the region. And interestingly, the Circle-Milango deal suggests increasing activity in the property technology space, which is still largely untapped on the continent. 

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Nigerian delivery startup ShapShap gets seed extension

Highlights

• Nigerian on-demand delivery startup ShapShap has secured a seed extension investment from V8 Capital Partners, after raising seed funding from Germany-based GreenTec Capital Partners late last year.
• Founded in 2019, ShapShap is an on-demand motorbike delivery service that utilizes data and mobile technology to formalize the fragmented and highly inefficient same-day delivery service. So far, the startup has completed over 40,000 deliveries in Lagos and Abuja.
• The startup will use the new funding to expand its capabilities in last-mile delivery for businesses and individuals in Nigeria and is also looking at expanding to other African countries soon. 

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

Small and medium-sized businesses in Africa make up 90% of all businesses on the continent and are essentially the backbone of the continent’s economy but they still struggle with the logistics and delivery side of things. ShapShap is just one of many notable startups addressing these challenges through B2B on-demand delivery services, as Africa continues to see a pandemic-induced boom in the digital-enabled logistics space.