Egyptian startup Opio, a daily women’s wear brand, has raised US$300,000 in seed funding to increase its market share.
Launched by Shady Mokhtar and Reem Abdellaftif in 2017 (pictured above), Opio began with selling native wears on its online platform, capitalising on the long-abandoned Egyptian apparel industry and the increase in demand for online shopping. The platform contracts white label women’s wear to various manufacturers through its digital platform.
After closing its US$300,000 seed round, the start-up is now preparing to expand its offering and scale of operations, with funding coming from AUC Angels, local and regional angel investors, as well as follow-up funding from Flat6Labs Cairo. Last year, Opio took part in the Flat6Labs accelerator programme.
“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 a 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.
AUC Angels manager Mariam Kamel said Opio has been very attuned to consumer trends, both in terms of how it communicates with its consumers and how it responds to changes triggered by recent developments in the digitalization 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.
