Cairo Delivery Startup Rabbit Scores Record $11 Million Pre-Seed Round

Egyptian on-demand delivery startup, Rabbit, has revealed that it has closed a record pre-seed round for a startup in the Middle East and Africa. Worth $11 million, the round included participation from the likes of Global Founders Capital, Foundation Ventures, Raed Ventures, MSA Capital, and Goodwater Capital and positions the startup for its ambitious plans to lead Egyptian e-commerce into what has been touted as a fruitful future for some time.

Though it was founded in June of this year, co-founders Ahmad Yousry, Walid Shabana, Ismail Hafez and Tarek El Geresy, only launched Rabbit in October, offering its on-demand quick commerce services for groceries, cosmetics, electronics and more - so quick, in fact, that it promises to deliver in under 20 minutes to the Cairo neighbourhoods of Mohandiseen, Zamalek, Maadi and Nasr City  through its network of dark stores.

Ambitious in its promise, the startup has reported that in its first two days of operation, only around 30% of the orders delivered were completed in less than 20 minutes. In the first week of November, however, the number increased to 90%, marking an incredible improvement. For the founding team, however, there's still room for improvement, with Rabbit's in-house-built proprietary tech holding the key.

“With Rabbit, you can buy a product in seconds, and get it in minutes,” explained Shabana, who also serves as Rabbit’s Chief Technology Officer. “The simplicity of the promise is made possible through our industry-leading tech that powers live inventory management, blazing-fast pick and pack operations and optimised point to point delivery that comes together to ensure your order arrives on time, every time.”

It’s certainly an achievable and sustainable model, with Yousry stating that “If McDonald’s can deliver sandwiches in 30 minutes, and they still have to make the sandwich, then if we get things right, we can easily deliver in 20 minutes.” 

So, what next? Well Rabbit plans to expand outside of the four areas it currently serves, including outside of Cairo, with Alexandria looking like the most probable move, as Egypt’s e-commerce field continues to flourish.