Author: Radwa Rashad

Aleph Holding, global partner to the world’s biggest digital media players, has today announced its acquisition of 86% of Connect Ads in a cash and shares’ swap transaction.

The acquisition sees Aleph Holding entering the MENA market as it continues its drive to expand globally and increase its presence in new territories, now reaching 90 markets and territories.

Aleph provides leading digital platforms such as Facebook and many others access to new geographies and under-served markets through its complementary suite of digital media service companies which include Httpool, Internet Media Services, Wise.Blue, Social Snack and AdDynamo.

The majority acquisition of Connect Ads extends Aleph’s services across the MENA region through Connect Ads’ more than 14 other exclusive media partnerships with global and leading digital media names including Twitter, TikTok, Verizon Media, Spotify, Adobe Advertising Cloud, Huawei Ads, Bigo Ads and many more.

What this means to MENA

In 2021, Aleph is on track to generate $1 billion in sales with an expanded footprint reaching over 90 markets supported. The acquisition marks a key milestone in this journey.

“There is huge value in expanding throughout MENA, both to serve our current partners and clients and to expand on existing relationships in other parts of the world.”

“We have been following Connect Ads’ growth and geographical expansion over the last five years and I am excited to welcome them to the Aleph family and we will work together with Connect Ads and A15 to make this a successful partnership” said Gastón Taratuta, Founder & CEO of Aleph Holding.

The Value of Growth

“A15 is happy with the phenomenal results, value and growth that Connect Ads created over the years; it validates A15’s venture building strategy in creating outliers. This is A15’s second dragon exit from fund I, and our third major exit overall.” said Karim Beshara, General Partner of A15.

He adds “A15 is looking forward to continuing this journey with Aleph and Connect Ads and contributing to a global digital powerhouse. We are excited about the growth opportunities and potential returns this deal will bring in the future.”

“We see this as a giant leap in the right direction for Connect Ads and all our stakeholders including our teams, partners, and clients. Being a part of Aleph, this truly global structure, will give us more leverage in managing our business as well as global exposure and potential that goes far beyond MENA and EMEA.”

“The numerous synergies and shared vision make this a very exciting time for us. The enhanced accessibility that this entails will enable us to grow faster and bigger than ever before” said Mohamed El Mehairy, CEO of Connect Ads.

Aleph is the largest global digital media partner. In over 90 markets worldwide, the corporation is trusted to connect the biggest players in digital media with the advertisers that rely on them.

Aleph helps advertisers maximize the value of their investment through a complete service ecosystem – comprising innovative proprietary technology, digital expertise and deeply embedded local market knowledge.

Our teams help brands to master the leading digital platforms, bringing them closer to their customers. These services are delivered through their portfolio of digital media service brands: IMS; Httpool; WISE.BLUE; Social Snack; and AdDynamo.

At the same time, Aleph acts as an extension to the leading players in digital, giving them access to new and under-served markets. Their global infrastructure and scale mean that they can build any market into a new success story.

As a trusted partner to the whole of the digital community, Aleph believes that growth generates growth. That is why they hold the key unlock the last mile in digital media.

Laverie, the first dry-cleaning & laundry app, announced securing an undisclosed six-figure (USD) seed round from A15, the leading Egyptian tech investor.

The upscale app has been operating since 2018 and currently boasts a month over month growth of 25%; catching the eye of A15, the leading tech investment giant which boasts an impressive array of successful startups.

A15 also boasts the region’s first Dragon exit (TPay) not to mention its previous major exit which was the sale of Otlob, one of the region’s leading online food delivery businesses, to Rocket Internet.

According to the announcement , Karim Beshara, A15 General Partner is quoted saying “We have noticed the work of the Laverie team, how they achieved early organic traction in the areas they operate in and the exceptional level of service they provide to their clients.”

The managing team consists of Laverie’s founders, Ayman Gaballah and Mohab Aloush as well as newly joining CEO Hani Salama who brought in his experience running his 30 year old family-owned laundry business.

We sat down with the team for more on consumer tech and the journey of Laverie onwards.

Hani says “Most of my early career has been spent building and operating digital assets at an early stage of the market. One of the biggest challenges at that stage has always been converging the behavior of potential users from traditional physical experience into a digital one.”

“My recent experience with the traditional laundry business grounded me with an insight of the psychology of customers.”

With this currently acquired investment, the Laverie team intends to disrupt the service quality level for the Consumer-tech industry in Egypt.

The Story

We spoke to Ayman Gaballah about Laverie’s journey and plans he says “Even in finding the name for the app, we had a focus on premium and high-end quality of service. This is what Laverie is all about.”

Laverie operates with a focus on seamless customer experience and journey while using the app as well as the quality of service and after-sales customer care.

The company also offers order tracking, and various payment options for convenience.

Ayman adds “We (Ayman and Mohab) had previous experience in the retail sector and launched several startups and software development initiatives in wholesale and healthcare.”

“(When raising) we saw A15 as one of the best-fit tech investors for us. Considering their current mix of companies as well as a good track record of successful exits and portfolio companies’ growth.”

Airing the Laundry

Consumer tech is a highly evolved industry worldwide but Laundry takes precedence in how ‘delicate’ (no pun intended) the process might be when it comes to the Egyptian market.

With pitfalls such as last mile pickup and delivery, payment and overall experience, the challenge can be quite interesting.

Ayman explains “The Egyptian market has evolved big time, customers are much more into using technology and accepting new ways of communication and B2C relationships. On the other hand, the market is still struggling with the shift between cash and online payment, many customers still prefer cash, but we are on track.”

Laverie offers several payment options as well as order tracking.

Our biggest challenge will always be to maintain a superior quality and customer experience.

Hani adds “I am hoping with my new team to be able to map a unique customer journey that smartly removes that barrier and positively affects our targets.”

On their plans for the near future, Ayman says “ this seed round will fuel our coverage of Greater Cairo and expansion into several GCC countries while focusing on offering new services and optimizing the customer experience.”

Access Bridge Ventures is a leading early stage venture capital fund supporting budding entrepreneurs across MENA region & Pakistan.

With their current role in funding the growth of Cassbana, Egypt’s 1st Financial Identities platform, Digital Boom interviews Issa Aghabi, Access Bridge Ventures (“ABV”) Founder and Managing Partner about their current roles and what the future holds for early stage investment in MENA.

We have noticed ABV is primarily interested in Early Stage startups, when asked about their reasoning behind that.

Issa says “We see a rising supply of early-stage startups with great potential but are facing challenges in obtaining the investments between seed and Series A. A portion of these startups end up dying due to the lack of funding. It could take a founder a longer period of time, then needed, to raise funds.”

He adds that while this situation is evolving quickly and positively yet we can still see more room for support and investment.

ABV is not a new-comer by any means, the partners has been investing in some exciting startups in the past 15 years. They collectively have over 8 exits in venture backed startups ahead of launching the fund. “This is what excites us the most.” Adds Agahbi.

Seed to Series A

Access Bridge Ventures is positioning itself as the go to Seed to Series A investor; explains Issa. Typically, we strive to be “The First Institutional Investor” or major Co-investor while adopting a hand on approach to help add value and provide our investments with that an “unfair advantage” of some sort.

We look to provide added value through leveraging our exceptional networks across the region, our collective investment and operational experiences, strong governance and overall discipline, he elaborates.

He adds “We are happy to lead, co-lead and collaborate. Our goal is to invest in great entrepreneurs at the beginning of the journey and help them become industry leaders.”

What the Future holds

When asked about what industries are expected to boom and flourish in 2021 and the coming years, Issa notes that while the venture tends to focus on sectors they “understand and have subject matter expertise in”, the venture is also focusing on sectors that are relevant to the region and “jive with our pattern recognition thesis”.

Issa sees the potential in Health-tech, Edu-tech, E-Commerce enablers & Marketplaces not to mention Enterprise Tech, SAAS and of course, Fintech.

These industries support the underserved communities as well as budding businesses across the region which could largely support emerging markets’ goals.

Making it or Breaking it

So what are ABV’s must haves when it comes to choosing startups to work with?

Issa says that while it differs based on the stage the venture is investing at but the top 5 characteristics every investor should be looking at are:

1. TEAM TEAM TEAM  (Make it or Break it )
2. Scalability and Market Size
3. Traction / Sector Leader and Innovators
4. Our Value add
5. Clear exit path

Issa adds” This was the case with Cassbana, they have a very strong founding team with clear experiences in founding successful startups, we found them to be honest, capable, smart and truly understand their business and industry.”

In Cassbana, ABV team saw “amazing traction on operations and technology despite starting with limited capital in a short period of time.”

He adds “This along the fact that we gathered a nice consortium of Investors for this round that are keen on adding value and driving success.”

Making the Case for Fintech

Issa says “we believe what is happening is merely the beginning for Cassbana, they are building a world-class technology that they keep on perfecting day by day in order to reach their own disruptive vision. “

He adds that Cassbana is a prime example for successful Fintech company models “we believe this is exportable to other similar markets. This is a theme we have been seeing a lot in Egypt. Amazing people solving hyper local issues that are very relevant to other emerging markets.”

“We also feel that the current offering is just scratching the surface. As we scale and grow that could be deepened and widened drastically.”

What is next 

With ABV freshly launched in 2021, Issa expects this to be “a pivotal year for us”.

The venture has already invested in three companies with several others in advance  pipeline.

Issa says the venture aims to invest in another 5-7 startups during 2021 with several follow-ons.

He concludes saying “We are excited about the region and aim to invest across MENA including key markets such as Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia where we are seeing amazing traction and good people.”