Cairo-based parcel delivery company, Mylerz has raised $9.6 million in a funding round led by private equity firm Lorax Capital Partners. Fawry, Egypt’s leading e-payment gateway also participated in the funding.

Mylerz provides end-to-end solutions including fulfillment and last mile delivery. Currently, Mylerz operates 21 hubs in 14 different cities across Egypt and a fleet of over 350 eco-friendly vehicles.

Besides expanding in Egypt, the funding will enable Mylerz to start operations in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco by Q3 2022.

The company also has plans to expand into East Africa in the second half of 2023.

"East Africa is the most populous sub region of Africa, with a population of approximately 455 million people in the 18 countries. We are looking at Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with a combined population of more than 120 million. Also, these countries are underserved when it comes to e-commerce logistics services," Mylerz CEO Samer Gharaibeh told Zawya.

“The investment will enable Mylerz to construct and open a brand- new AI-enabled, automated 25,000 sqm cross-docking fulfillment center West of Cairo by Q4 2022 and to augment its current 1,500 sqm fulfillment center,” the company said in a statement.

Last year, 42 percent of the total funding secured by Egypt-based startups had gone to the transport, logistics and e-commerce industries, according to Magnitt, the region’s startup data platform.

(Writing by Noha El Hennawy; editing by Seban Scaria )