EGYPT – talabat Mart, the 20-minute grocery delivery service by talabat, Egypt’s leading food delivery and q-commerce platform has expanded its footprints to Assiut, Zagazig, Ismailia and Port Said.
The recent expansion marks talabat Mart as operational in 9 governorates through 35 dark stores and comes in parallel to introducing a new range of frozen seafood and fresh bakeries to its mixed assortment.
This is aligned with the company’s long-term mission to bring its innovative grocery delivery technology to all communities in Egypt and offer a reliable, affordable and ultra-fast service.
Commenting on the expansion, Mohamed Sekkina, General Manager of talabat Mart stated, “This is yet another incredible milestone in the journey of talabat Mart since launching almost a year ago.
“We are proud of not only introducing quick commerce to Egypt, but also of our sustainable growth that enables us to better serve our customers, create employment opportunities and foster talent.
“I am very proud of how we are building a product stack from the ground up that is designed to maximize efficiency and customer value across the country.”
talabat introduced Egypt to quick commerce upon launching talabat Mart in March 2021, which uses talabat’s proprietary order, dispatching and fulfilment technology adapted for the retail environment.
Powered by dark-stores, the service relies on real time inventory management, high-speed order transmission, as well as efficient pick, pack, and delivery operations to safely minimize delivery times.
In other related news, Chari, a Moroccan B2B e-commerce and retail startup, has confirmed that it has bought Axa Credit, the credit arm of Axa Assurance Maroc, for US$22 million.
The announcement follows Chari’s recently completed seed expansion round, which valued the company at US$100 million and saw it begin offering BNPL services to its customers.
The start-up digitizes the largely fragmented FMCG sector in parts of French-speaking Africa, particularly Morocco and Tunisia.
It operates a mobile app that connects small retailers in these two countries to FMCG multinationals and local manufacturers, allowing them to order and get products in less than 24 hours.
Last October, the YC-backed company acquired Moroccan credit book Karny.ma. The Khatabook-esque platform provides credit and bookkeeping services to about 50,000 merchants.
It allows these merchants to handle the credit they give to their customers.
The acquisition of Axa Credit — the Moroccan credit branch of the French-based Axa Group — makes Chari one of the few, if not the only, startups to acquire a local branch of a global bank.
The acquisition is still subject to approval from the Moroccan banking, insurance and antitrust authorities, Chari said in a statement.
Chari’s purchase was prompted by Axa pulling out its credit business—secondary to its core insurance business—from Morocco and saw Chari fit to take over.
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