Egypt-Based Logistics Startup OneOrder Secures $16 Million in a Series A Round

OneOrder, the tech supply chain and logistics solution that has revolutionised the hotel, restaurant, and catering (HoReCa) industries in Egypt, announces that it has raised $16 million in equity and debt in a Series A round to expand into the GCC region, beginning with the UAE. The round is led by previous investor Delivery Hero Ventures, with participation from Norrsken22 as well as Egypt-based Nclude and A15. This follows a $1 pre-Seed and $3 million seed round in February and December 2022, respectively. 

On the problem that OneOrder is tackling, Tamer Amer, CEO at OneOrder, said, “Like many supply chains across Africa and the MENA region, HoReCa is extremely fragmented and relies on manual processes involving multiple stakeholders. This results in businesses having limited price-transparency, a lack of access to quality stock-keeping units (SKUs), high waste and storage costs, and limited financing to grow their businesses.”

Amer continues, “Currently, restaurants and hotels must work with hundreds of suppliers to maintain stock, receiving 10 to 20 deliveries each day, which disrupts operations without eliminating shortages. Previous attempts to solve the problem have simply digitised the issue, which any ERP can do. Instead, OneOrder takes a comprehensive approach to streamlining the entire supply chain, acting as a one-stop-shop by storing all the ingredients that restaurants might need in our strategically located warehouses.”

Through its web-based platform and mobile application, One Order offers a personalised virtual warehouse for online ordering and delivery of more than 700 SKUs, comprehensive analytics and data to manage their operations, and access to embedded financing to boost growth. OneOrder is transforming the food procurement process for customers and providing them with access to more SKUs with guaranteed quality at lower prices, as well as data and analytics for improved operations and financing for growth. They currently work with over 1370 customers.

The technology does not just solve problems for the supply chain, but also streamlines associated financing and payments, and is integrated with ERP/POS systems. OneOrder has worked with the Commercial International Bank Egypt (CIB) to enable variable payments by direct debit - something that currently only banks and financial institutions can do in Egypt.

“At OneOrder, we are steadfast in our belief that technology and human creativity form the bedrock of our success. Our philosophy focuses on empowering our customers with technology to automate mundane tasks, thereby enabling them to concentrate on areas that require human judgement,” Amer said, adding: “This approach has allowed us to operate with a significantly leaner team than traditional suppliers, demonstrating the effectiveness of our tech-enhanced strategies. We look forward to our expansion into the GCC region.”

Brendon Blacker, Managing Partner at Delivery Hero Ventures, says, “We are honoured to lead OneOrder’s Series A round and grow our investment as the company revolutionises the HORECA supply chain in the MENA region. This funding creates an exciting opportunity to expand the huge value that OneOrder enables for its customers across a wider geographic footprint and replicate the great success they have already achieved in Egypt.” 

Natalie Kolbe, General Partner at Norrsken22, says, “We are pleased to back OneOrder as our funds first investment into Egypt, as we believe it has the potential to revolutionise the HORECA supply chains across Africa and beyond. The team is led by exceptionally experienced operators, and we look forward to supporting them in opening up multiple new markets and becoming the full stack HORECA technology solution.”

The company plans to expand into the Gulf Cooperation Council region (GCC: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) in autumn 2024, build up financing solutions for customers, including cards, and further develop the platform. Over the last six months, OneOrder has also implemented a one-of-a-kind AI assisted system, which has revolutionised the app, saving 60% of customers time and money. The team is therefore recruiting heavily across AI.