Iraq-based last-mile delivery startup Hi-Express, on Wednesday, announced that it has raised a 6-figure seed funding led by Iraqi Angel Investors Network (IAIN). This notably marks the third investment of IAIN.
According to a press release by the company, the investment was partially matched by a USD 20,000 in grants from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH via its project “ICT for Youth in Iraq” as part of the organisation’s support to the Angel Network.
Founded in 2019 by Mujahid Waisi, Ameen Saleem, and Ahmed Al Alousi, Hi-Express is a last-mile delivery startup focused on the B2B segment of the market. The company claims that it has grown to serve over 170 vendors over the past year empowered by its proprietary technology and the deep experience of its founding team.
The company will deploy the fresh funds towards expanding its fleet and its establishing deeper presence across the country. On similar lines, Ahmed Al Aloosi, CEO of Hi-Express, said,
“Despite the increasing competition in the last mile market in Iraq, the size and potential of the market makes it still up for grabs. Our growth over the past year is a testament to our abilities,”
Speaking of the investment in Hi-Express, Amar Shubar, a member of IAIN and partner at Management Partners, said,
“Operations excellence is a key challenge for most companies operating in Iraq and especially the last-mile delivery segment. The team and technology behind Hi-Express has demonstrated its ability to overcome such challenges. While currently most of the last-mile-delivery demand is driven by the increased e-commerce transactions in Iraq, Hi-Express is well-positioned to transform customer engagement and service fulfilment for a number of sectors – especially related to the government and financial service sector.”
