• Cairo-based e-commerce platform builder ExpandCart has raised $2.7 million in a pre-Series B bridge funding round, led by Hong Kong-based Betatron Venture Group with participation from existing investors: Sawari Ventures from Egypt, and Agility Ventures from Kuwait.

• Founded in 2016 by Amr Shawqy and Sameh Nabil, ExpandCart is an e-commerce platform builder that claims to have served 25,000 merchants in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, and the UAE.

• The new round of funding is set to fuel ExpandCart's growth in its existing markets while focusing on maximising R&D, technology building, and new products such as their new conversational commerce chatbot solution ExpandBot.

ExpandCart, the leading e-commerce platform in the Middle East and North Africa, has secured $2.7 million in a Pre-Series B bridge round of financing, led by Hong-Kong based Betatron Venture Group with participation from existing investors; Sawari Ventures from Egypt, and Agility Ventures from Kuwait.Founded in 2016, ExpandCart is one of the largest e-commerce platform builders in the MENA region with customers from over 40 countries and a client base of 25,000 merchants who managed to achieve over $850 million in GMV through the ExpandCart platform from its current main markets, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, and the UAE.

The new round of funding is set to fuel ExpandCart growth in current markets while focusing on maximising R&D, technology building, and new products to ambitiously enable 1 million merchants within the next three years across the Mena region using multiple products such as their new conversational commerce chatbot solution ExpandBot, which enables merchants to interact with their customers faster through conversation-based commerce tools like (Messenger and WhatsApp) without increasing their headcount.

With estimates that the e-commerce market in the region has been growing at a CAGR of 35% over the last 5 years and studies show that there will be a larger acceleration in e-commerce between 2020 and 2022, at 20% CAGR, and a further 14% growth per annum until 2025.