Saudi delivery startup raises $2.4mln to expand outside the Kingdom

JEDDAH: WeDeliver, a parcel delivery startup headquartered in Riyadh, has secured SR9 million ($2.4 million) as part of its first pre-seed investment round, it was announced on Wednesday. I coudn’t find a ‘WeDelivery’ in an online search.

The startup uses artificial intelligence and a mobile application to partner companies that have parcels to be delivered with a network of freelance drivers close by.

The company launched its operations in the Kingdom in April last year, just weeks after the pandemic took hold. Starting first in Riyadh, it has since expanded to Jeddah and the Eastern Province.

Ahmad Ramahi, co-founder and CEO of WeDeliver, said in a press statement: “WeDeliver is a MENA startup with a global vision, driven by an experienced team. We have ambitious plans to enrich our growth in the Saudi market and look forward to expanding to new regional markets.

“We believe that our asset-light collaborative model will disrupt intra-city logistics, enabling faster, more efficient, low-cost delivery for businesses and online sellers,” he added. Nasser Al-Maawi, another cofounder of the startup, said that WeDeliver has seen “strong results” and reported “300 percent growth in the second quarter of this year.”

According to a recent industry report, Saudi startups raised more than a quarter of a billion dollars in venture capital (VC) funding during the first half of 2021.

A total of $1.228 billion was raised by startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in the first six months of the year, a rise of 63 percent year on year and 12 percent more than was raised during the whole of 2020, according to figures from the MENA H1 2021 Venture Investment Report, published by Dubai-based research platform Magnitt.

According to the report, the top three countries in the MENA region for startup funding were the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, accounting for 71 percent of total investment. The UAE was the dominant market, making up 26 percent of total funding, followed by Egypt with 24 percent and Saudi Arabia with 21 percent, for a total of $257.88 million.

“It’s also important to note that within this top three ranking, Egypt was the only geography to observe a deal count increase year on year, while Saudi Arabia has almost closed the deal count gap with UAE from 44 deals in 2020 to just an 11-deal difference in H1 2021,” the report said. The food and beverage sector was the most popular among VCs in terms of dollars invested, while the fintech sector generated the most deals.

According to this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report, total entrepreneurial activity in Saudi Arabia increased in 2020 by 24 percent compared to 2019. It also showed that more than 90 percent of adults saw entrepreneurship as a favorable career choice, while a third of Saudis surveyed said that they were keen on launching a business within the next three years.