Egyptian on-demand medicine delivery startup Chefaa has raised a seven-figure US dollar pre-Series A funding round to help it expand its team and launch a B2B service.
Founded in May 2017 by Doaa Aref and Rasha Rady, Chefaa helps patients make scheduled medicine orders in a bid to tackle challenges with accessing medication in a timely fashion.
Users can locate medicine using a real-time search engine, make orders, and schedule deliveries with a GPS functionality. It also runs a medicine-dedicated CSR platform to match donations with low-income patients.
Chefaa raised a six-figure seed round last year, with investors including 500 Startups and Flat6Labs. 500 Startups has followed on as part of the latest round, which is undisclosed but is a seven-figure US dollar sum. Other investors include Vision Ventures and Womena.
The startup said it will use the investment to grow the size of its operations team and launch its B2B service for SMEs. It will also be expanding its services to ensure basic medicines and personal care products are easily available to everyone in the region.
“Chefaa is merging e-commerce with the pharmaceutical industry and positioning itself to lead the digital transformation of the pharmaceutical industry. With the capital we have just raised, and support of partners like 500 Startups, Vision Ventures and Womena, we are focused on scaling efficiently and sustainably,” said Aref.
Hasan Haider, managing partner of 500 Startups MENA, said in the current environment any startup that can improve people’s lives and assist in social distancing measures is performing a service to everyone.
“We’re happy to be supporting Chefaa in providing people with a more efficient way to get their medication. The team behind Chefaa have done an exemplary job in executing their goals in a very short period of time, and we look forward to their ongoing success,” he said.
