Iraq-Based Boxy Nets US$1.5 Million From EQIQ

Iraq-based logistics aggregator Boxy has secured US$1.5 million in pre-seed funding from the Abu Dhabi-based venture capital firm and venture builder EQIQ, marking its official launch and setting the stage for a major shift in the country’s fragmented last-mile delivery sector. The investment is part of EQIQ’s venture-building strategy to address market gaps and expand Iraq’s digital infrastructure across fintech, logistics, and e-commerce. 

Co-founded by CEO Ahmed Baqer and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mehrshad Pezeshk in Baghdad in 2024, Boxy aims to unify Iraq’s last-mile delivery market by integrating more than 1,500 couriers into a single, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered shipping platform. Through its AI-matching engine, Boxy connects merchant preferences with courier performance, routing shipments to the most suitable delivery partner. 

Speaking with Inc. Arabia, Pezeshk said the timing could not be better for Boxy to launch in the highly fragmented yet booming Iraqi market. “We launched Boxy because Iraq’s e-commerce market is booming, but delivery has become chaotic and unreliable. In just five years, the number of last-mile carriers exploded from fewer than 15 to over 1,100—each with different rules, prices, and coverage, but with no unifying system or national postal service. Merchants were losing nearly 30 percent of potential sales due to failed deliveries, while spending 60 percent of their time just managing logistics. Now is the right moment because online shopping adoption is surging, the logistics market is worth over $700 million annually, and there is no market leader. Iraq today is where India was a decade ago before logistics aggregators like Shiprocket transformed the market. We saw the opportunity to bring that proven model to Iraq and localize it for the unique challenges here.” 

For Pezeshk, the partnership with EQIQ is not just about funding but about aligning with a shared long-term vision for Iraq’s digital economy. “EQIQ’s mission is to invest in and build the foundational digital infrastructure Iraq needs to accelerate economic growth. Boxy fits squarely into that vision—logistics is the backbone of e-commerce, and e-commerce is the future of retail in Iraq. Working with EQIQ has given us access to strategic capital, a strong network of advisors, and operational expertise in scaling tech platforms in emerging markets. They’ve also helped us fast-track partnerships with top merchants and carriers, and provided governance and structure to prepare for rapid growth.” 

Since its inception, Boxy has recorded steady month-on-month growth, with merchant numbers doubling in the past month. The platform reduces onboarding time from weeks to hours and removes the need for merchants to manage multiple dashboards, labels, or courier negotiations. 

Pezeshk noted that this rapid adoption stems from the urgency of solving deep-rooted issues that have long hindered Iraq’s e-commerce growth, listing fragmentation, lack of visibility, unstandardized operations, financial friction, and customer trust as the key challenges that Boxy is looking to address.  

He told us that the country has “over 1,000 carriers with no unified standards for pricing, weight, or service,” noting how that contributes to a lack of visibility of merchants. "Merchants can’t reliably track deliveries or resolve issues quickly,” said Pezeshk, adding that having complex operations means that the industry often lacks standardized formats, slowing down processes. "Multiple carrier systems mean multiple dashboards, label formats, and reconciliation processes.” He added that slow and opaque cash-on-delivery (COD) remittances often create cash flow problems for merchants. Finally, in an industry still finding its feet, he stressed the importance of building customer trust through a reliable system, explaining, “One poor delivery experience can damage a brand and stall growth.”  

But beyond addressing delivery inefficiencies, he stressed that Boxy has a broader scope as well. “Boxy is more than delivery—it’s a unified logistics platform that automates carrier selection with an AI-driven matching engine that analyzes 60+ variables per shipment."

Additionally, the company streamlines merchant operations by standardizing label formats for shipping with multiple carriers from one dashboard and consolidating cash-on-delivery (COD) reconciliation and tracking into a single finance module. The platform offers unified support to resolve issues faster, and provides customer-facing tools such as branded tracking pages, automated WhatsApp/SMS updates, and one-click returns to strengthen trust and loyalty. 

With the fresh capital, Boxy is preparing to scale its AI capabilities. “Our next phase is all about scaling through AI innovation. We’re focusing on rolling out BoxyRescue—our AI-powered NDR (non-delivery report) recovery system—to achieve 99 percent inquiry resolution through automated communication, smart detection, and centralized courier [synchronization]. This will reduce return-to-origin rates by over 40 percent, cut operational costs by 30 percent, and lower support load by 75 percent. Advancing BoxySelect, our AI dispatcher and carrier-matching engine, by training it with historical and live delivery data to optimize cost, speed, and reliability for every shipment,” Pezeshk said. 

He also told us that, with more than half of its pre-seed capital in reserve, Boxy has a 13-month runway to deliver these AI milestones and scale toward 100,000+ monthly orders before its next funding round. 

Finally, Pezeshk told us that the company has plans to expand beyond Baghdad. “In Q4 2025, we’ll expand to one new city inside Iraq, with the goal of achieving full Iraq coverage by 2026. Our long-term vision is to become Iraq’s go-to logistics backbone—and eventually expand into other markets in the region,” Pezeshk added. 

Pictured in the lead image from left to right is Boxy's co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mehrshad Pezeshk (L) and co-founder and CEO Ahmed Baqer. Image courtesy Boxy.