Egyptian startup Rabbit, an on-demand delivery company delivering groceries, cosmetics, electronics and more using dark stores, has raised a US$11 million pre-seed funding round.
Launched last month by Ahmad Yousry, Walid Shabana, Ismail Hafez, and Tarek El Geresy, Rabbit runs on tech enabled hyper-local fulfillment centres and claims to be able to guarantee consumers that what they order will never be out-of-stock and that it will arrive in under 20 minutes.
“Consumer expectations have evolved significantly over the past two decades. On-demand has taken over the music, media and transportation industries and we believe that on-demand retail is next,” said Yousry, Rabbit’s chief executive officer (CEO).
“We are building a business with speed as a core part of the DNA, which is evident in how we operate and work. We measure things by seconds, because ultimately, we are not in the business of retail or convenience, we are in the business of time. We work hard to ensure we save you time to do more with your day.”
The US$11 million pre-seed funding round comes from an international investor base that includes Global Founders Capital, Foundation Ventures, Raed Ventures, MSA Capital and Goodwater Capital. Rabbit is currently serving four locations in central Cairo – Mohandeseen, Zamalek, Maadi and Nasr City – and plans to expand areas of coverage soon, moving into several major cities and processing hundreds of thousands of orders per month.
“The Rabbit team is setting a totally new standard for the grocery industry in Egypt and the broader region. They offer a totally new experience to customers compared to traditional grocers and local stores,” said Lorenzo Franzi, investor at Global Founders Capital. “We have been following their progress since the very beginning and are very excited to be supporting their journey.”
