Egypt’s Qme raises $3 million in seed funding, joins a list of others

Qme, an Egyptian business-to-business SaaS startup, has raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by multisector technology company, AHOY and a group of angel investors from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. 

The Egyptian startup is an AI-driven platform that addresses critical issues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) where inefficient queuing systems and redundant appointment booking methods cause individuals to lose an average of six months of their lives standing in line. 

Qme positions itself to fill the market gap which has seen the reliance on phone bookings, accounting for 92 per cent of appointments in key sectors. This trend often leads to a no-show rate of 31 per cent thereby creating further inefficiencies. This means that nearly one-third of people who make appointments via phone do not turn up for them.

With the funding, AHOY’s emergence into the system looks to provide Qme with the ability to cutting-edge technology and extensive market expertise. As a regional tech pioneer aspiring to become a decacorn, AHOY provides advanced solutions in logistics, aviation, and traffic management. 

Reacting to the collaboration, Maged Negm, CEO and Co-Founder of Qme said the partnership with AHOY is a major milestone that will strengthen the startup’s ability to optimize movement in dynamic, real-world scenarios while transforming customer experiences.

“AHOY’s operational excellence and robust tech stack are invaluable as we scale in vibrant markets. I’m super excited to have Jamil Shinawi, AHOY’s CEO, joining the Qme Advisors Committee. Our partnership with AHOY marks a pivotal moment in our journey,” said Maged Negm. 

Rising to the moment since its launch in Q4 2023, Qme has slashed phone booking no-show rates to as low as 1 per cent while transitioning paper-based queuing systems to digital alternatives which have saved an estimated 50,000 square meters of paper.

In addition, Qme has made remarkable performance having already served over 100,000 customers in the healthcare, banking, and government sectors. Significantly, the company has reduced waiting times from 116 minutes to just 14 minutes. 

Jamil Shinawi, CEO and Co-Founder of AHOY noted that Qme’s platform aligns perfectly with their ethos of reducing friction in everyday processes.

“Their (Qme) ability to streamline the customer journey resonates with AHOY’s mission of solving real-world inefficiencies through innovation. The collaboration leverages AHOY’s multi-sector expertise and visionary approach to help Qme penetrate complex markets across the GCC and African regions and advance globally,” Jamil expressed. 

The new funding will allow Qme to enhance its technology lens, expand its operational reach, and forge deeper partnerships. With the partnership, the startup aims to redefine how businesses and governments interact with customers by eradicating all inefficiencies. 

Qme is also a part of AHOY’s Startup Builder Initiative, a program that aims to empower 10,000 entrepreneurs and support 30,000 software developers across the MENA region by 2030. The strategic technological framework for the initiative aims to catalyze exponential innovation across critical infrastructure sectors such as transportation, aviation, and smart city development.

Qme is an AI-based digital queue solution that allows customers to remotely enter the service queue based on their location. It is a real-time digital queuing app with an automated end-to-end user-handling experience. The allocated tickets are based on the customer’s location and how many people are in the branch, guaranteeing minimal to almost zero waiting time. 

Customers also get customized alerts based on their location and based on the branch’s queues – resulting in a more streamlined and better customer handling experience.

Similar Read: Nigerian fintech Raenest raises $11m in QED-led Series A funding, total funding now $14.3 million.

Like Qme, other Egyptian startups in recent funding rounds

Qme’s $3 million in a seed funding round comes amidst a couple of other funding acquisitions by Egyptian startups.

Taager, the leading social e-commerce platform for the MENA region announced a close of a $6.75m Pre-Series B funding round last week. The funding round, which was led by Africa-focused tech growth fund Norrsken22, will enable Taager to fuel its growth in the Middle East region.

The oversubscribed round included participation from Endeavor Catalyst and Beltone VC. This is in addition to all existing investors including 4DX Ventures, RAED Ventures, BECO Capital, and Breyer Capital.

Ultimately Taager aims to become the core demand generation and data platform for social e-commerce across the MENA region. The company believes that its tech team is best positioned to use the unique/proprietary data points gathered across the years of the social e-commerce ecosystem over thousands of merchants and products serving millions of their end customers.

Another is Simplex. 

Earlier in February, the Egyptian startup, which specializes in computer numerical control (CNC) machine manufacturing, raised $13 million to build a huge new CNC factory in Saudi Arabia.

The expansion funding comes after Simplex raised $13 million to open a factory on a 20,000-square-meter site in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, which will be dedicated to producing advanced CNC machines. This startup signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Development Centre.

Also in January, Egyptian agri-tech startup ReNile closed a $450,000 round of funding to help expand its home market and start operations in Saudi Arabia.

ReNile’s IoT systems enable farmers to monitor conditions, automate processes, and enhance efficiency. Its US$450,000 funding from undisclosed investors will help the startup expand operations and move into Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Founded in 2017, ReNile focuses on end-to-end smart farming solutions using technology to boost agriculture productivity. It offers a comprehensive range of products to monitor and optimize water, soil, and air quality. 

The recent funding raised by Egyptian startups shows that companies in that space are not relenting to catch up with fellow African counterparts.

Recall that a report by African venture funding analytics company, Africa the Big Deal., showed that by ranking, Egypt was the third preferred destination for venture funding in Africa in 2024.

The North African country followed closely behind Nigeria (2nd) and Kenya (1st), with $400 million of the total $2.2 billion in funding raised by startups. This indicates an 18.2 per cent contribution by the largest tech market in North Africa.