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Maintain your car personally is a long, expensive and laborious process. It’s a cycle that can lead to more expensive repairs and downside safety issues, and no car owner likes it.
Egypt and Dubai-based auto tech start-up Odiggo is one platform that solves this problem. It allows car owners to get the help they need by find auto services and parts suppliers from suppliers around them. Then for the suppliers, it increases their sales and reaches more customers without necessarily marketing expenses.
Odiggo is part of the current YC Summer lot and had a funding round of $ 2.2 million before Demo Day. The lists of existing investors participating in the round are Y Combinator, 500 Startups and Plug and Play Ventures. Regional VCs like Seedra Ventures, LoftyInc Capital and Essa Al-Saleh (CEO of Volta-Tucks) also participated.
Ahmed Omar and Ahmed Nasser launched Odiggo in December 2019. The company operates a marketplace that connects car owners with service providers who can solve their problems, from maintenance and repair to washing and maintenance.. A commission-based model is used and Odiggo charges automotive suppliers a 20% commission on each transaction.
More than 50,000 car owners in three markets – Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia – use Odiggo. The company is also working directly with more than 300 traders. He claims the number of merchants has grown 40% month over month while its user base has grown 200% since the start of the pandemic.
“We believe we are at a turning point. It is amazing that since the COVID hit, Odiggo has grown more than 10 times greater in the past year, ”said co-founder Omar.
CEO Omar said that with this new round, Odiggo’s priority will be to to reach constant growth while expanding its team across EBU, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
From left to right: Ahmed Nassir (co-founder) & Ahmed Omar (co-founder and CEO)
He adds that since Odiggo leverages a mix of data sources, including car metrics and in-house software, it will use that same information to come up with more product offerings..
Odiggo will use part of the financing to continue to develop its technology and dashboard software, he said.
“For example, the platform to be addicted up to the car owner’s vehicle and link the vehicle to the market and provide frequent updates of your vehicle’s condition so that you can to be informed if the tires are low, the oil should be changed, or if a service is required. “
The pandemic has disrupted the mobility and logistics sectors, particularly in the MENA region, allowing players like Odiggo to gain visibility with investors. In an industry that is now worth more than $ 61 billion in the Middle East and Africa alone, Odiggo seeks to become a market leader. He has even more ambitious plans to go public over the next three years.
“We also aim to be fully focused on investing in our product and technology, as building an ecosystem to monetize requires more capital. Our goal is to go public by 2024 and reach one billion reserved services, which requires a lot of network, infrastructure and technology effects, ”said the CEO.
“We aim to be the first $ 100 billion company to come out of the region,” Nasser added.
Some of its investors, Idris Ayodeji Bello, Managing Partner of LoftyInc, and Essa Al-Saleh, agree with the startup’s plan despite the early days..
“We are excited support Odiggo through our Afropreneurs funds in its quest to transform the auto parts market and provide superior service to customers, from the MENA region. Omar and Nasser’s management team, supported by the rest of the employees, have been a pleasure to work with and we are on a countdown to the IPO, ”Bello said in a statement..
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