Cairo-based gifting platform The Giftery raises seed investment

Egyptian gifting ecommerce platform The Giftery has raised seed investment from Springboard, a Cairo-based investment company that invests in small and medium scale business across different industries in Middle East & North Africa. The size of investment was not disclosed.

Founded in 2010 by Sarah Aclimandos and Karim Atalla, The Giftery claims to be region’s first online gifting ecommerce platform of the region, helping users buy and send gifts, flowers, and chocolates to their loved ones. The platform also enables users to create their own gift lists (also known as gift registries or wish lists) compiling a list of items they wish to receive that they can share with their friends and family. Corprorates also use The Giftery’s services for personalized business gifts.

The startup currently has over 150 stores and brands on their platform that sell gifts for different occasions including weddings, birthdays, baby showers, and even housewarming parties.

Speaking about the investment, Sarah Aclimandos, founder and CEO of the The Giftery, said, “We are excited to have Springboard as our partners on this journey. Over the past six years, we have managed to establish a strong connection with thousands of customers who use The Giftery regularly for all their gifting needs.”

“We believe that it is crucial in the coming period to market the services we offer to a wider customer base, to continue investing in technology, and to take customer comments and suggestions to heart to improve the
current gifting experience,” she added.

The Giftery will use the investment to further improve the customer experience and add new features to the platform.

“The Giftery has managed to become the go-to gifting platform for its customers, given the uniqueness of its services and its extensive portfolio of selected suppliers and products; factors that have set it apart from other ecommerce platforms. Its devoted management team has also succeeded in leveraging The Giftery’s first mover advantage to build operational expertise and adapt the model to the Egyptian market’s needs,” said Gamal Guemeih, Co-Founder of Springboard.

Sprigboard which has previously invested in different businesses in Egypt but is relatively new to the tech scene will continue making investments in home-grown ecommerece companies, he added.

Earlier this year, Dubai-based Enhance had raised $1.5 million for its gifting Platform Joi and Resal, a Saudi gifting platfrom had also raised a six-figure (USD) investment, making The Giftery third gifting ecommerce platform to have raised investment this year.