Breadfast: Egypt’s King of Quick Commerce | Emergent

This piece was originally published on the newsletter Emergent.

Egypt has always been famous for its rich history and culture and the subject of numerous Hollywood movies. But in the past few years Egypt is increasingly making a name for itself for something else — startups. Egypt has seen venture capital funding to startups in the country soar from a miniscule $6 million in 2015 to nearly $200 million so far in 2021, and things are only accelerating.

With a population of 100 million people, Egypt is the largest country by population in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and a high priority market for regional startups from across Africa and MENA to expand into. But in Egypt — as in India, China and Pakistan — local founders with local context are leading the charge and building the first-generation of leading technology companies. One of the flagship companies of Egypt’s new wave of technology innovation is quick commerce startup Breadfast.

Breadfast is a quick commerce startup offering same-day and next-day delivery of a range of household items from groceries to electronics and cleaning supplies. Breadfast was founded in 2017 and since then has scaled rapidly:

• Growing 25% month-on-month
• Serving 200,000 households across Egypt