Egyptian startup Eksab has raised seed funding from 500 Startups as it bids to become the leading daily fantasy sports platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Eksab is looking to tap into the MENA region’s love for football by providing users with exciting and engaging mobile games. Users download the app, make predictions about live football games from around the world, collect points based on the accuracy of their predictions, and get rewarded with prizes.
In its first year, the startup processed more than five million predictions, and it has now secured a six-figure seed investment from 500 Startups to help it scale its product across the region, with the goal of processing 100 million predictions over the next year.
“We live in a region that is obsessed with football. I remember going out to hand out flyers on the day that Egypt made it to the World Cup. People were fighting over Eksab flyers with the Egyptian team’s picture on them. It was an intense yet pivotal moment. We knew we had tapped into something special,” said co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Aly Mahmoud.
“There has never been a more exciting time to be a football fan in the Middle-East and Africa than now. We plan to capitalize on increased attention, engagement and spending on football content in the region, and are very fortunate to be able to go on this journey with 500 Startups.
Sharif El-Badawi, partner at 500 Startups, said his company had been following the sector for months and was impressed with what Eksab has been able to achieve.
“Their team is very focused on the user-experience, talking to their users daily while iterating to deliver the most engaging platform possible. We believe we can add significant support to Eksab with our investment,” he said.
