8-Month-Old Egyptian Grocery Delivery Service Trolley Carts In USD 200 K In Seed Funding

Cairo-based grocery delivery platform Trolley, which was launched in January this year, has secured USD 200 K in seed investment. The source of the consideration remains unknown, but tech publication MENAbytes reports it came from an individual Kuwaiti investor. 

Internet retailing has gained a lot of traction as of recent. In the United States, for example, 1 in every 10 millennials and Gen Xers shopped online for groceries in 2016, up from eight percent and seven percent respectively, in 2014. 

In Egypt, the trend is booming, thanks to the continually increasing number of fixed-line and mobile internet users. A good number of the North African country’s existing store-based retailers have expanded their businesses by including the internet retailing option on their websites. 

The complete online service ends when the items are delivered to the doorstep of the customer. In the biggest market in the Arab region, online grocery shopping does not just spare consumers the hassle of standing in long queues, but also pushing trolleys and getting their items home.

Many startups have emerged into this space with different business models. While one model buys products from suppliers and sells and delivers them to customers, the other acts as a liaison between buyers and supermarkets, with grocery stores bearing the delivery costs.

Trolley is but one wolf in a pack of many startups looking to reap the fruits of digital grocery retailing. The startup sells and delivers these consumables all over Cairo and Giza via its website and mobile application. 

Mohamed Abbas, the founder and CEO of Trolly, told MENAbytes that it uses a hybrid model. The company owns and stores a part of its inventory in a warehouse and distribution centre, while relying on small offline grocery chains for the rest of their products. Abbas said they sell over 20,000 products, over 500 of which is owned and stored in a company warehouse. 

The company has its own fleet of grocery deliveries, claiming to offer two-hour delivery in its current areas of operation. The startup currently delivers more than 400 orders every month, 30 percent of which are from its own warehouse. 

Trolley faces competition from El5odary, Beqala, Minbetna, Goodsmart and Fakahany, all of which majorly operate in the Egyptian Capital. In Kenya, there’s MoBar (alcohol delivery), Wagon and Glovo among others. South Africa has OneCart, Stockup, Zulzi and others. Supermart, Applecart, Pocketfriendly, Organic Haive and Food Trolley are some of the most significant grocery delivery services in Nigeria.

With seed funding in the bank, the startup is looking to expand to three more Egyptian governorates in the middle stages of 2020, starting from Alexandria. It will also use the money to double down on its marketing, develop its web and app, and expand the local team, which currently stands at 20 employees.