Undisclosed Pre-seed funding secured by Egyptian handicraft e-commerce startup Muqbis

Online handicraft marketplace Muqbis, a business in Egypt, has received an undisclosed sum in pre-seed investment from Nama Ventures.

Iman El Wasifi, Mohamed Nasser, and Kareem Hussein founded Muqbis in 2021 as an online marketplace for Egyptian handicrafts. The platform, which uses a multi-vendor retail format specifically designed for handcrafters, aids users in expanding their enterprises and selling their items.

In order to grow as it advances through the MVP stage, it has now acquired an unknown sum of pre-seed capital.

“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,” said El Wasifi. “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.”

Nama Venturers’ founder and managing partner Mohammed Alzubi claimed that his business has long sought to wager on the “Etsy of MENA.”

“The opportunities are massive and our region enjoys a great deal of artists and talented craftsmen that need the right medium to monetise their craft.  Yet we were always challenged in finding the right complementary team to go after the opportunity,” he said.

“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 honoured and privileged that the super talented Muqbis team has chosen Nama Ventures as their funding partner, and we look forward to returning the favour in providing the value add that we promised with our investment.”