Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the lockdown that came after it, companies running e-commerce and delivery services have become a target to investors who have pumped tons of dollars into the industry.
The funding has helped these companies to push innovations, and deliver services that eases online buying, selling, and delivery of products. E-commerce and q-commerce companies have experienced unprecedented growth, and expansion, and it is evident in the acquisition pursuit of the Egyptian company, Appetito.
While many startups in this business work on satisfying customers’ changing shopping pattern, and the hunger for fast delivery of goods, many players, especially smaller ones, were unable to meet up to the target they enticed customers with. This led to the low-performing startups getting eaten up in acquisitions by big players.
Egypt-based quick commerce startup, Appetito, has commenced moves to acquire Lamma. Lamma is a company based in Tunisia, and runs delivery of groceries and other household items to its customers.
Lamma began operations in Tunisia two years ago, first as a carpool service provider, before pivoting into quick commerce services, where it deliver groceries, personal care, and fashion items to users in both Tunisia and Morocco.
Although, Appetito did not reveal how much the deal will be going for, market analysts and sources close to both companies said the deal is between $10 million and $15 million. Top officials at Appetito also declined to make a comment on the size of the deal.
“We’ve been very cost-efficient with solid unit economics from day one. The fact that we were able to do so much with so little is great evidence. Moreover, we’ll be closing an eight-figure round soon to foster our expansion even further,” Appetito CEO, Shehab Mokhtar said.
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As a result of the acquisition, which is expected to be completed by the end of Q3, Appetito is looking at becoming the biggest player in the q-commerce business, in Africa. The company will then cover markets in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco.
With the large number of players in the q-commerce business, the competition has heightened, and small players who are unable to match up to the demand of the sector, are either getting booted out, or acquired. This is evident in the actions of big players like Getir, Flink, Gorillas and Gopuff. These players have gone on to acquired smaller platforms like Weezy, Cajoo, Frichti and Dija.
Appetito was founded in 2020 by Shehab Mokhtar. It is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, and has operations in the North African country. Appetito has raised a total of $2.6 million, with the last fundraise being in November, 2021, where it raised $2 million in its Series A funding round.