Egyptian e-commerce startup Opio raises $300k seed round

Egyptian startup Opio, a direct to consumer everyday women’s wear brand, has raised US$300,000 in seed funding to expand its operations.

Launched in 2017 by Shady Mokhtar and Reem Abdellaftif, Opio started life as a digital native vertical, capitalising on the long-abandoned Egyptian apparel industry and the surge in online shopping demand. The platform commissions white label and toll manufacturing women’s wear apparel to different manufacturers, and offers it to its customer base through its digital platform.

The startup is now planning on expanding its offering and scale of operations after closing its US$300,000 seed round, with the funding coming from AUC Angels, local and regional angel investors, as well as follow-on funding from Flat6Labs Cairo. Opio took part in the Flat6Labs accelerator programme last year.

“We’ve proven that we can develop a value proposition that can easily compete with international brands. Egypt is full of design and creative talent. Backing this up by relentless focus on customer experience we are confident that we can easily add a strong mark on the local and regional online fashion market,” said Abdellaftif, who is Opio’s creative director.

Mariam Kamel, manager at AUC Angels, said Opio had been very responsive to market trends, both in terms of how it interacts with its clientele and how it reacts to changes induced by the recent developments in the digitalisation of the shopping experience.

“They’ve revised their business plan when they’ve needed to, and established key partnerships where it was beneficial. Shady and his team move fast, and always have news to share on what’s coming next,” she said.