This 'super app' has bagged North Africa's largest funding to date

Emmanuel Oyedeji -

Algerian startup Yassir has bagged $150 million in what is North Africa's largest funding round, led by growth-stage VC firm Bond, with participation from other investors including DN Capital, Dorsal Capital, Quiet Capital, Stanford Alumni Ventures, and Y Combinator via its Continuity Fund, among other strategic investors.

  • The new funding brings the total funding by the startup to $193.25 million, since its launch. The company had initially raised $13.25 million in an early seed round and $30 million in a series A funding round in November 2021.
  • The startup launched in 2017 and set out as a ride-hailing company with an overarching plan to provide banking and payments as an entry point that allowed Yassir to gain its users’ trust in the Maghreb region, a region known for its hesitant adoption of digital banking.
  • The platform is now a super-app offering on-demand services and financial services including ride-sharing, food, groceries, and recently banking services to its users. It is currently operational in 45 cities across six countries, and most popular in Maghreb nations like Algeria, where it originated from, Morocco, and Tunisia.
  • The company claims that it is now the most valuable startup in the region, and says its services generate revenue for more than 100,000 of its partners, which include drivers, couriers, merchants, and wholesalers, among other gig workers and vendors. It also claimed to have crossed the 8 million users mark, a 2 times increase from last year.
  • A particularly unique feature of its business model is its multi-faceted marketplace nature. The company is not only targeting consumers but the entire supply chain— drivers, couriers and merchants. It has digitized the informal sector into its product, connecting fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) suppliers, and other manufacturers directly to its merchants.
  • With the newly acquired funding, the startup Yassir plans to further deepen its footprint in the northern African region and further its expansion to the rest of the world.