MaxAB
MaxAB is an Egyptian B2B e-commerce company, founded in 2018, that supplies food and grocery products to small retailers through an app and, since 2024, operates together with Kenya's Wasoko.
Industry: B2B e-commerce and distribution | Location: Egypt | Founded: 2018 | Total Funding: USD 86.2M
About MaxAB
MaxAB is a business-to-business e-commerce company based in Cairo that connects small, informal food and grocery retailers with suppliers through a mobile app. Retailers use the platform to order stock and receive deliveries, while suppliers and brands gain access to shops in neighbourhoods and areas that traditional distribution reaches poorly. The company was founded in 2018 by Belal El-Megharbel and Mohamed Ben Halim. El-Megharbel serves as chief executive. Before MaxAB he worked at Careem as general manager for Cairo and Alexandria. Ben Halim, a co-founder and chief operating officer, previously worked in operations at Aramex Egypt and was named to the Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30 list. Techpoint reported that Ben Halim left the company in November 2024, about two months after the merger with Wasoko closed. MaxAB's first institutional funding was a seed round of USD 6.2 million in 2019, co-led by Beco Capital, 4DX Ventures and Endure Capital, with 500 Startups and Outlierz Ventures also taking part. The company later raised USD 40 million. KrASIA described that round as a Series A led by RMBV, with IFC, Flourish Ventures, Crystal Stream Capital, Rise Capital and Endeavour Catalyst participating. Forbes Middle East, in its list of the most funded startups, instead described a USD 40 million pre-Series B round in June 2022 that brought in new investors including Silver Lake, British International Investment and Disrupt AD, and put the company's total funding at USD 102 million. The proceeds were earmarked for expansion into Morocco, for the technology and product teams, and for the company's fintech arm. In December 2023 MaxAB announced a merger with Wasoko, a Kenyan B2B e-commerce platform. The all-stock deal was delayed by about four months and then completed in 2024. Wasoko co-founder Daniel Yu and El-Megharbel were named co-CEOs, with ownership of the combined group described as close to an even split. The companies said the merged business served 450,000 merchants and employed more than 4,000 people across eight countries: Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Egypt was the largest market, with annualised sales of USD 180 million according to the companies, and Cairo was named as headquarters. TechCabal reported that the group planned to cut roughly 10 percent of its combined workforce during integration. The combined group, referred to in coverage as MaxAB-Wasoko, bought the Egyptian B2B platform Fatura from EFG Finance as its first post-merger acquisition. In October 2025 the COMESA Competition Commission opened an investigation into the Wasoko and MaxAB merger to assess its effect on competition.
Leadership
- Belal El-Megharbel, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
- Daniel Yu, Chief Executive Officer, Wasoko; co-leader of the merged company