Egyptian B2B e-commerce company MaxAB and Wasoko, a Kenya-based e-commerce company that operates in the East African country alongside Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia, are in talks to merge operations, TechCrunch has learned exclusively from multiple sources. They say the talks are still ongoing and the agreement has not been finalized yet.
Wasoko has scaled back its operations in recent months. It left the Senegal and Ivory Coast markets earlier in the year and closed its centers including the one in Mombasa, Kenya, amid a quest for profitability.
Furthermore, our sources claim that while Wasoko closed a $125 million round last year, the funding was scheduled to be launched after it achieved set milestones. TechCrunch has learned that the company had only received $30 million by the time it began merger talks, said to be led by investors, with Wasoko raising a Series B from major companies like Tiger Global and Avenir at a post-money valuation of $625 million.
Like Wasoko Maxab, a B2B food and grocery e-commerce and distribution platform serving a network of brick-and-mortar retailers across Egypt and Morocco, raised more than $100 million (including a $55 million Series A and $40 million Series B in the year Past DisruptAD, BII and Silverlake). Sources say that the company is in talks with existing investors to build a bridge throughout the current year.
MaxAB is the largest startup in the B2B retail and e-commerce market in Egypt and North Africa. It acquired YC-backed Waystocap for its expansion into Morocco, and shut down Capiter, which was supposed to pose a threat, amid a struggle between its founders and investors.
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