Startup of the Week: Egyptian Trella blazes the trail in trucking business
Startup of the Week: Egyptian Trella blazes the trail in trucking business/node/2055736/business-economy
Startup of the Week: Egyptian Trella blazes the trail in trucking business
The freight industry has seen massive growth in the last few years. In 2021, logistics startups alone bagged the highest funding in Egypt, amounting to $177 million. (Shutterstock)
Startup of the Week: Egyptian Trella blazes the trail in trucking business
Following regional success, digital freight platform wants to go global
Updated 04 April 2022
Nour ElShaeri
RIYADH: Gone are the days when transportation meant moving cargo from point A to point B.
The advent of the latest fleet management technologies has brought in a new breed of companies that are spotting the canyons and building bridges over them. One such company is Cairo-based Trella.
Also referred to as the Uber for trucks, Trella is a trucking platform that connects shippers with trucks, driving efficiency in a highly inefficient logistics industry. It is an idea whose time has come. The digital freight platform, launched in 2018, has already carved its niche in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Pakistan.
Much of the credit goes to the company’s founder Omar Hagrass who led Uber Eats’ expansion plans in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It’s here that he sowed the idea of trucking as a service. His desire is now to empower the communities around him and make his platform global.
“I intend to work hard, make more good decisions than bad ones, provide a product our customers want, and build a culture our employees and communities are proud to be associated with,” said Omar Hagrass.
Business model
What makes the business model scalable and sustainable is the simplicity in connecting the supply-side and the demand-side of the business using an intelligent platform.
“Shippers enter into priced contracts with Trella and post loads on the platform, which immediately generates prices for carriers, who can book the load. Once a carrier delivers the load, Trella pays the carrier and invoices the shipper,” said Hagrass while elaborating on his company’s business model.
The company currently has a 5 to 8 percent take rate — the fee charged by a marketplace on a transaction done by the third party — which could be maximized during critical masses of supply and demand, pushing the take rate up to 15 percent without affecting carrier returns.
“We have successfully completed over tens of thousands of loads, onboarded over 30,000 drivers, and worked to provide logistics solutions for over 500 shippers,” said Hagrass.
Funding and expansion
The company has been a huge draw for angel investors. Three months into its launch, Trella secured its pre-seed funding of $600,000, led by capital firm Algebra Ventures and other angel investors.
The startup utilized the pre-seed funds to stabilize its presence in the Egyptian market and enter Saudi Arabia.
After expanding into the Kingdom and Pakistan, it completed a $42 million post series A round of funding, compromising $30 million in equity and $12 million in debt, and allocating the investment into product development and strengthening market position.
“Digitizing, automating and optimizing the largely manual steps of the trucking load cycle is the main priority, ensuring shippers and carriers can continue to connect seamlessly via the web or app interface,” said Hagrass, hoping to expand further in 2022.
Industry dynamics
The freight industry has seen massive growth in the last few years. In 2021, logistics startups alone bagged the highest funding in Egypt, amounting to $177 million. Last month, a Saudi-based digital freight network TruKKer raised $96 million in a mix of equity and debt for its Series B funding.
The excitement is palpable, and Hagrass bets heavily on his vision and the resourcefulness of his team that has catapulted him into the game.
“Trella’s unique competitive advantage is a team with an experience to launch tech products across the EMEA region, access to large venture capitals and strategic partners, connect with shareholders like ExxonMobil, and background of building a proper marketplace,” said Hagrass. He hopes to use this advantage in making long strides into the emerging entrepreneurial economy of Saudi Arabia that is blazing the trail in the Middle East with its Vision 2030 blueprint.
Fresh funding flows in even as broader market data points to a slowdown
Updated 20 December 2025
Nour El-Shaeri
RIYADH: Startup funding activity across the Middle East and North Africa delivered a mixed picture over the past week, with fresh capital flowing into gaming, fintech, deep tech, and travel, even as broader market data pointed to a slowdown in overall investment momentum.
Saudi Arabia’s Impact46 led a $1 million investment round in Hypemasters, an international game development studio focused on competitive strategy experiences for mobile. The round included participation from GEM Capital.
Hypemasters develops strategy titles designed for competitive depth and precise game mechanics and has attracted more than 7 million players globally.
The studio is currently advancing several new projects, including a title in soft launch, as it looks to expand its reach in markets with sustained demand for strategy games.
“Strategy is one of the most demanding categories in game development, and Hypemasters approaches it with uncommon discipline. Their work shows a clear understanding of what committed players expect from this genre, and we believe their upcoming titles can serve a global audience with genuine depth,” said Basmah Al-Sinaidi, managing partner at Impact46.
“We are pleased to support a team that builds with intention and long-term ambition,” she added.
Boris Kalmykov, CEO and co-founder of Hypemasters, said: “We’re focused on deepening our presence across the region and pushing forward with the next generation of strategy games, including a major new title already in soft launch. Partnering with Impact46 marks an important step for Hypemasters.”
The CEO added that Impact46 shares his company’s long-term vision for building “world-class strategy games” from the MENA region, and the support reinforces his firm’s commitment to expanding its portfolio with high-quality releases.
The investment reflects Impact46’s continued interest in game development and interactive entertainment and aligns with its broader strategy of backing studios building globally oriented titles.
Premialab raises $220m
UAE-headquartered Premialab, a provider of data, analytics, and risk management solutions for quantitative investing, has raised $220 million in a growth investment led by KKR, with participation from existing investor Balderton.
Founded in Hong Kong in 2016 by Adrien Geliot and Pierre Trecourt, Premialab operates a global platform serving the $800 billion quantitative investment strategies market.
Counterfeits don’t just impact economies; they erase identity, creativity and truth. Along with our investors, we’re building a movement to make the world’s stories verifiable again.
Walid Tarabih, founder and CEO of Relik
The company provides benchmarking, performance analysis, and risk analytics tools for institutional investors.
The funding will be used to support global expansion, strengthen core operational systems, and scale Premialab’s execution product, which was developed in partnership with Eurex, to broaden access to quantitative investment strategies.
“Quantitative investment strategies have grown rapidly in scale and importance, yet the market has lacked a truly independent standard for data, analytics and risk. Premialab was built to fill that gap,” said Adrien Geliot, CEO of Premialab.
Relik closes seed round
UAE-based Relik has closed a seed funding round with participation from KBW Ventures, Naatt Holding, Fort Holding, and Ayman Sejiny.
Founded in 2023 by Walid Tarabih and later joined by John Tsioris, Relik is an artificial intelligence-powered authentication platform designed to help collectors, brands, and marketplaces.
The company plans to use the funding to roll out additional products and expand across sectors including sports, luxury, and heritage markets.
“We are ensuring authenticity in a fakeable world,” said Walid Tarabih, founder and CEO of Relik, adding: “Counterfeits don’t just impact economies; they erase identity, creativity and truth. Along with our investors, we’re building a movement to make the world’s stories verifiable again.”
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al-Saud, founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, said: “Relik is creating a new global standard for truth and trust. At a time when counterfeiting and AI-generated content are rising, Relik’s mission to protect authenticity carries both cultural and commercial value.”
Nawah raises $23m
Egypt-based deep tech startup Nawah Scientific has raised $23 million in a series A round comprising a mix of equity and debt, marking a decade since the company’s founding.
The round was led by Life Ventures Holding, with participation from Den Ventures, Empire M, AfricInvest, Elsewedy, as well as banks and angel investors.
Founded in 2015 by Omar Saqr, Nawah operates a cloud laboratory model that enables remote access to advanced testing services. (Supplied)
Founded in 2015 by Omar Saqr, Nawah operates a cloud laboratory model that enables remote access to advanced testing services. Its operations span four business units covering life sciences, food and agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and certified reference materials.
The company plans to use the funding to build a global research and development center in Rwanda, double laboratory capacity in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and expand into North Africa and Europe.
Algeria’s VOLZ raises $5m
Algeria-based travel tech startup VOLZ has raised $5 million in a series A funding round led by a consortium of private investors under Tell Group, with participation from Groupe GIBA.
Founded in 2023 by Mohamed Abdelhadi and Hacene Seghier, VOLZ enables travelers to book flights in Algerian dinars using online payments or cash on delivery, while comparing multiple airlines through a single platform.
Announced at the African Startup Conference in December, the transaction is Algeria’s largest startup funding round in local currency and marks the first exit of the Algerian Startup Fund.
The capital will be used to launch new consumer and corporate travel products, strengthen VOLZ’s position in Algeria, and support expansion across North and West Africa.
MENA startup funding slows in November
Investment activity across the MENA startup ecosystem slowed sharply in November 2025, with 35 startups raising a combined $227.8 million, according to Wamda’s monthly report.
This marked a steep decline from the $784.9 million recorded in the previous month and a 12 percent drop compared to November 2024, pointing to a period of consolidation as investors moderated deployment toward the end of the year.
More than half of the capital raised during the month was driven by a single debt-backed transaction by erad, which propelled Saudi Arabia to the top of the regional rankings. Across 14 deals, the Kingdom attracted $176.3 million, accounting for more than three-quarters of all capital deployed in November.
Despite funding activity spanning 35 startups, capital was concentrated in just 5 markets. After Saudi Arabia’s dominant lead, the UAE followed with $49 million across 14 transactions.
Egypt recorded $1.12 million across 4 deals, while Morocco raised $1.1 million through 2 transactions. Oman saw 1 deal with an undisclosed value, with limited activity reported outside these markets.
Fintech emerged as the most funded sector in November, raising $142.9 million across 9 deals, largely influenced by the same debt-driven transaction.
E-commerce followed with $24.5 million across 6 rounds, while property tech, which topped the charts in October, slipped to 3rd with $18.9 million raised by 3 startups.
Debt financing dominated the month, accounting for more than $125 million through a single transaction.
The remaining capital was largely channelled into early-stage startups, with no later-stage funding rounds recorded in November, underscoring continued investor caution.
From a business model perspective, B2B startups captured the majority of capital, with 20 companies raising $197.1 million.
B2C startups lagged, with 9 companies raising a combined $22.2 million, while the remainder was split across hybrid models.
The gender funding gap showed no signs of narrowing, with male-led startups absorbing 97 percent of the capital raised during the month. Female-led and mixed-gender founding teams accounted for the remaining share.
