Egypt-Based Suplyd Raised US$2 Million Pre-Seed

Suplyd, the Cairo-based digital procurement platform for restaurants, has secured US$2 million in a pre-Series A funding round.

The round was led by 4DX Ventures, a pan-African VC firm based in the U.S. investing in transformative tech across emerging markets; Camel Ventures, the Egypt-based venture arm of dfin Holding focused on fintech and tech-enabled startups in MENA; and Plus VC, a UAE-based venture capital firm. The round also saw participation from Seedstars, a Switzerland-based global investor supporting scalable startups in emerging markets, along with existing investors who continue to back Suplyd’s growth. With the newly-acquired funding, the startup aims to move beyond distribution and develop a full-stack infrastructure to serve Egypt’s $10 billion hotel, restaurant, and catering (HORECA) supply chain. 

Founded by Gohar Said, Karim Selima and Ahmed ElMahdy in Egypt in 2022, Suplyd offers procurement solutions tailored to small and medium-sized restaurants, with a focus on addressing issues in the restaurant sector like unreliable suppliers, delivery delays, and a lack of visibility. Through its digital platform, it streamlines daily procurement, linking restaurants directly with suppliers.  

In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Said, who is also the CEO of Suplyd, shared how the company is tackling operational pain points often overlooked by traditional players. “Everyone is focusing on the frontend; [so] we took a step back and decided to help restaurant owners run their restaurants,” Said told us. “That’s always restaurants [where] fail. Throughout time, suppliers never favored the small- and medium-sized restaurants, which enforced an incorrect setup for how restaurants run their procurement processes.” 

Suplyd’s platform enables restaurants to manage everything from ingredient sourcing to kitchen supplies through a single dashboard. It features real-time analytics, inventory tracking, and delivery monitoring—helping operators minimize waste and optimize costs. With the new investment, the company plans to grow across Egypt, with a focus on the Red Sea area, as well as to launch new service verticals. The team is already developing backend tools designed to streamline restaurant operations and improve efficiency behind the scenes. “The new capital will be allocated to launching new services and features that we believe are game changers. We want to engage more with our restaurants on the app, and at the same time empower our suppliers,” Said added. 

Since securing a $1.6 million pre-seed investment in 2022, Suplyd has expanded nearly 20-fold and now supports more than 5,000 restaurants across Egypt. Said attributed this impressive growth since its last funding round to a deliberate focus on a long-overlooked segment of the market. “The growth was mainly driven by our go-to market strategy," he said. "Focusing on the SMEs helped us tailor for them exactly what they need." 

When it comes to advice for fellow founders navigating Egypt’s startup ecosystem, Said didn’t shy away from highlighting the realities of the journey. “Markets are tough, and running a startup is a mental challenge that people usually underestimate,” he said. “Build a company on sustainable business fundamentals so you can survive.”  

Pictured in the lead image from left to right: Ahmed ElMahdy, Gohar Said, and Karim Selima, the co-founders of Suplyd. Courtesy of Suplyd.