Egyptian e-commerce platform Kenzz secures $3.5m in seed fund

Kenzz, an Egyptian e-commerce platform bringing shopping to the mass market, has grabbed $3.5 million in seed funding to be used to grow product categories and hire talent, Tech Crunch reports.

The round was led by U.S.-based and MENA-focused venture capital firm Outliers Venture Capital and investors include HOF Capital, Foundation Ventures, and Samurai Incubate.

Founded in February by Ahmed Atef, Mahmoud Al Silk and Moataz Sami, Kenzz according to Chief executive officer Atef was launched to deepen e-commerce adoption in Egypt.

The North African country boasts conditions including a young and urban population that has increased in tandem with internet and mobile penetration, for the growth of the e-commerce platforms such as Kenzz.

About 40% of Egyptians purchase consumer goods online weekly according to data gathered by Go-Globe.

“We’re going after a completely different segment that Amazon and the big platforms are not looking at as they are centralized in big cities and towards the people who are comfortable buying online,” said Atef.

“What we’re doing is bringing that experience much closer to the masses and building a reliable, trustworthy e-commerce platform that caters specifically for the mass market, solving for the barriers to buying, whether it’s trust, affordability and relevance, while capitalizing on social engagement and social interaction aspects of e-commerce.”

Kenzz will also use the funding to invest in tech as it launches its app.