Founded in 2019 by Mahmoud Abdelfattah, Mahmoud Talaat, Rafik Zaher, Cartona is digitising the trade market in Egypt.

Cartona, an Egypt-based business-to-business e-commerce platform, has raised $8.1 million in a Series A extension financing headed by Algebra Ventures, with existing investors such as Silicon Badia and the SANAD Fund for micro, small, and medium enterprises.

Camel Ventures and GlobalCorp contributed $2.5 million in debt and $5.6 million in equity financing to the round, respectively.

Cartona, founded in 2019 by Mahmoud Abdelfattah, Mahmoud Talaat, and Rafik Zaher, aims to digitize Egypt's conventional trade industry by connecting small retailers, fast-moving consumer goods producers, wholesalers, and distributors on its platform.

The company announced the new funds yesterday, saying Cartona will use them to accelerate expansion, grow its market share, expand into new areas in the Middle East and North Africa, and explore prospective business-to-business and business-to-consumer opportunities.

In 2022, Cartona closed a $12 million Series A led by Silicon Badia and other investors.

Mahmoud Talaat, CEO and co-founder of Cartona, said: “We are committed to delivering our strategy which includes transforming the traditional trade market and creating value for all stakeholders in the marketplace.

“Our product rollout, verticals and offerings will continue to grow as will our penetration of the Egyptian market. We have an exciting future ahead, replicating the successful execution of our business model in other regional markets - all making trading as easy and accessible as possible for retailers and suppliers.”

For the funders, Omar Khashaba, general partner at Algebra Ventures, believes Cartona has created an extraordinarily capital efficient model that has enabled it to produce strong growth and profitability even during economic downturns.

Khashaba said: “The asset light nature of its model creates scalable infrastructure that can quickly be adapted for entry into new markets and adjacencies. Cartona has also been a driving force for financial inclusion in the retail sector as more and more of its small merchants take advantage of inventory financing options.”