The Cairo-based B2B digital marketplace aims to facilitate the connection between pharmacies and medical suppliers.

Egyptian health tech firm, Pharmacy Marts has successfully secured the bridge round for an undisclosed amount of six figures, spearheaded by Acasia Ventures. The health-tech startup was established in the year 2021 by Ahmed Kadous, Ahmed Mazhar, Haitham El Ghotni, and Mahmoud Shousha. Pharmacy Marts is a B2B trading centre that bridges the gap between medical suppliers and pharmacies alike to seamlessly procure medical supplies, medicines, equipment, and medicinal cosmetics. The startup firm claims to have acquired over 20% of Egypt’s total market scape and more than 200 suppliers have onboarded on its platform. It has crossed a total of $2 million in investment securing to date from local, regional and global VCs.

Acacia Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies, has placed its belief and trust in Cairo-based digital marketplace Pharmacy Marts by leading a six-figure bridge round. The startup health tech aims to transform the supply chain landscape in the medical sector, specifically the pharmaceutical sector, by introducing digitisation to enhance access to a patient’s medication. On average, almost every pharmacist keeps aside 30 per cent of their daily time to stock, verify, and keep track of product availability and prices. As a consequence, the delivery of medication is delayed which is further fuelled by the absence of streamlining in this sector, as the region has over 60,000 pharmacies that offer more than 7,000 different products from 3,000 different suppliers. The greatest disadvantage over here is the interlinking between the stakeholders and the pharmacies which is still dependent on the old and basic methodology of manual processing and phone calls. This is where Pharmacy Mart steps in. 

Established three years ago, this platform gives access to pharmacists to search online for products that are out of stock in their inventory, look up suppliers who have them, and receive an estimate on which supplier would meet their requirements such as financial and time-specific ones. In addition to this, they can also order missing items, opt for their choice of payment method, and get it delivered to their store within 24 hours of ordering. On top of that, this overcomes the difficult situation of pharmacists who are unable to meet the financial needs of suppliers by offering them a suitable option of “Buy Now, Pay Later.”

Pharmacy Mart’s co-founder and CEO, Marts Ahmed Kadous stated, “The distribution of medication in Egypt is not reliable or smooth, but rather plagued with the inconsistent availability of products across pharmacies and geographical areas, leading to a shortage in medication. This ultimately impacts the patients who need the medication and makes the life of a pharmacist rather difficult. We are excited about having Acasia Ventures on board, given its great presence in African markets that we are planning to enter, as well as its solid network of advisors and experts in the pharmaceutical industry.”

Furthermore, other co-founders, Ahmed Mazhar, Haitham El Ghotni, and Mahmoud Shousha hold different positions and roles in the company such as, Mazhar is the Chief Strategy Officer, who served as Senior Manager for Business Development Strategy at Vodafone’s Vodafone Cash Division previously. On the other hand, Haitham El Ghotni is the Chief Business Officer, who served various prominent organisations such as Marketing & Sales roles at Vodafone Cash, MNT-Halan, and Capiter and possesses an impressive and extensive portfolio in the commercial sector. Meanwhile, Shousha leads the Sales Department and has immense expertise in the implementation of efficient sales processes as an Executive Medical Representative at Norvatis before he joined hands to launch Pharmacy Marts. Managing Partner at Acasia Ventures Aly El Shalakany says, “Pharmacy Marts’ solid team has a fantastic track record and is successfully delivering a compelling digital solution to alleviate a big pain point for thousands of pharmacies and indirectly, millions of patients. In a short period of time, Pharmacy Marts has emerged as a category leader in this space and we are confident it will continue to go from strength to strength.”