Egypt-based mass e-commerce start-up Kenzz has grabbed $3.5 million in a seed funding round led by Outliers Venture Capital.

The new start-up, founded only this February by Ahmed Atef, Mahmoud Al Silk and Moataz Sami, will use the seed round to broaden its product categories and invest in recruiting talent and in tech while simultaneously focusing on launching its app.

CEO of Kenzz, Ahmed Atef, said: “We are delighted to complete this seed fundraise, and we thank all our investors for their support. The time is ripe to fully optimize eCommerce in Egypt and the Mena.” 

According to Go-Globe e-commerce data, 20 per cent of tech startups in Egypt are in the e-commerce and retail sectors. Several factors are responsible for spurring this sector, including a young and urban population that has increased in tandem with internet and mobile penetration rates increasing over the last years. Moreover, approximately 40 per cent of Egyptians reported purchasing consumer goods online weekly.

“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 Mr 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.”

The platform also gives consumers discounts of up to 65 per cent when they make collective purchases with friends and family.