What's Hot

    Gameball raises USD 3.5 million in funding

    February 8, 2023

    Tawseel secures investment from Numu Capital

    February 7, 2023

    Google launches Women Founders Africa Program

    February 6, 2023
    Gulf Africa ReviewGulf Africa Review
    • Industry
    • Infrastructure
      1. Airport
      2. Hospitality
      3. Ports
      4. Power
      5. Rail
      6. Roads
      7. Transport
      Featured

      Osun seeks to capitalise on infrastructure momentum

      Infrastructure May 21, 2018
      Recent

      KarmSolar receives USD 3 million to develop Farafra Solar Grid

      January 11, 2023

      AD Ports Group reports strong growth

      January 3, 2023

      Hyosung Heavy Industries to start construction on South African energy storage project

      December 12, 2022
    • Business & Trade
      1. Agri-Business
      2. Entrepreneurship
      3. FDI
      4. Legislative
      5. MEA
      6. Telecoms
      7. Properties
      Featured

      Analysts predict bullish future for Nigeria’s REITs market

      Business Business & Trade January 21, 2018
      Recent

      Free trade: Qatar and Morocco conclude second round of talks

      January 31, 2023

      Gold-for-oil: Ghana attempts to address forex pressures

      January 18, 2023

      AD Ports Group reports strong growth

      January 3, 2023
    • Finance
      1. Banking
      2. Islamic finance
      Featured

      Social investment platform InvestSky raises USD 3.4 million

      Business Entrepreneurship Finance January 12, 2023
      Recent

      Social investment platform InvestSky raises USD 3.4 million

      January 12, 2023

      African startups face challenges in 2023

      January 10, 2023

      MENA startups raised USD 125 million in December

      January 6, 2023
    • Innovation
    Gulf Africa ReviewGulf Africa Review
    Business

    Muqbis ‘the Etsy of MENA’ raises pre-Seed funds through Nama Ventures

    December 19, 20223 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Muqbis
    Muqbis' founders all have strong tech and startup backgrounds.
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Muqbis, an Egyptian handcraft marketplace, has announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-seed funding round by Nama Ventures.

    Muqbis: A passion for handcrafts

    Muqbis was launched in 2021 by Iman El Wasifi, Mohamed Nasser and Kareem Hussein. The co-founders all have a strong background in technology and business growth. All three held positions at Egypt Yellow Pages and have worked across a range of tech and startup companies across Egypt and the Middle East. Muqbis came about due to their passion for handicrafts, and their skillsets have positioned them to launch the company as a fully-fledged marketplace tailored to serve the industry.

    Muqbis, according to the company, will benefit from a strong understanding of the handcraft industry, including its nature and the unique challenges it faces. The company will support growth among handcraft makers, encourage sales conversions and support the industry through technological innovations while sustaining its cultural elements.

    The Egyptian handcraft market

    According to Muqbis, the handcrafts market in Egypt is valued at only 22 billion Egyptian pounds (891,185,240 USD). Muqbis aims to be an umbrella marketplace for handcraft producers, notably women in the Egyptian and MEA market, and to support them with the creation of a fair environment where they can sell their products, and educate themselves about ecommerce to increase their exposure to a local and international market.

    Iman El Wasifi, the CEO of Muqbis said, “We are super excited to be one of Nama’s Portfolio companies in our first round. Nama is an extraordinary VC that showed a strong belief in what we do and aim to deliver, even before we signed the final agreement for the investment, they bridged all possible ways to support our business growth through recommendations and business matchmaking. We believe the next phase for Muqbis will be a game changer. Through the past few months we showed a remarkable market footprint in our MVP phase, but it’s time for a greater impact that is specially tailored for the industry as we believe in Talented Hands and shall avail all the possible ways to deliver their uniqueness to customers’ doorstep in a world class experience.”

    “The Etsy of MENA”

    “We’ve always wanted to make a bet on ‘the Etsy of Mena’ for a while now, the opportunities are massive and our region enjoys a great deal of artists and talented craftsmen that need the right medium to monetize their craft. Yet we were always challenged in finding the right complementary team to go after the opportunity,” said Mohammed Alzubi, founder and managing partner of Nama Ventures. “Well the wait is over, Iman, Mohamed and Karim are the definition of a complementary team with the right role clarity to tackle this exciting challenge. We are simply honored and privileged that the super talented Muqbis team has chosen Nama Ventures as their funding partner, and we look forward to return the favor in providing the value add that we promised with our investment.” 

    Modus and USAID recently launched a venture builder to support Egyptian women and underserved populations in the country.

    Egypt Handcrafts Muqbis Nama Ventures Startup
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleSuplyd raises USD 1.6 million in pre-Seed round
    Next Article Top African startups: Digest Africa’s 100 most funded African startups

    Related Posts

    Business Innovation

    Gameball raises USD 3.5 million in funding

    February 8, 2023
    Business Startups

    Tawseel secures investment from Numu Capital

    February 7, 2023
    Business Innovation

    Google launches Women Founders Africa Program

    February 6, 2023
    Add A Comment

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    LATEST STORIES

    Gameball raises USD 3.5 million in funding

    February 8, 2023

    Tawseel secures investment from Numu Capital

    February 7, 2023

    Google launches Women Founders Africa Program

    February 6, 2023

    Zurich Innovation Championship goes live

    February 3, 2023

    MNT-Halan valued at USD 1 billion

    February 2, 2023
    • Business
      • Agri-Business
      • Entrepreneurship
      • FDI
      • Legislative
      • MEA
      • Properties
      • Telecoms
    • Infrastructure
      • Airport
      • Hospitality
      • Ports
      • Power
      • Rail
      • Roads
      • Transport
    • Finance
      • Banking
      • Islamic finance
    • Commodities
      • Agri commodities
      • Metals & minerals
      • Precious metals
    • Culture & Society
      • Education
      • Energy
    GAR logo
    © GulfAfricaReview.com 2014-2022, All Rights Reserved.

    Gulf Africa Review is a trade news and future networking platform for businesses leaders and trade organisations, established to first inform and secondly assist in facilitating the ongoing business and trade relations between the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Sub-Saharan Africa. We aim to provide an apolitical voice for this channel of economic activity in a way that benefits both geographies by improving the availability of information about market events, developments and opportunities, while publicising the successes achieved by this ever-broadening regional relationship.

      Subscribe to our newsletter

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.