Kenyan and Egyptian Companies, Wasoko and MaxAB, Complete Largest Tech Merger in Africa
Wasoko and MaxAB, two of Africa's leading B2B e-commerce companies, have finalized the largest tech merger on the continent, concluding terms in Q4 2023.
Wasoko, formerly Sokowatch, raised $125 million in Series B funding in 2022 and operates in six African countries. MaxAB, founded in 2018, supports small retailers in Egypt and Morocco, securing $40 million in pre-Series B funding in 2022.
Last December, during a challenging period for fundraising in Africa, the two companies announced a merger of equals aimed at strengthening their growth and establishing the continent's most performant digital retail platform.
The historic merger of all shares creates a pan-African platform for digital and physical goods, evolving Wasoko and MaxAB into a multi-vertical ecosystem for the $600 billion informal retail sector. With over 4,000 employees, the merged entity is led by co-CEOs Daniel Yu (Wasoko) and Belal El-Megharbel (MaxAB).
Operating in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt, and Morocco, the new entity manages Africa's largest network of 450,000 informal B2B retailers, serving 65 million consumers. The integration of technological stacks and operations enables new business units beyond e-commerce, including fintech services, all accessible via a unified app.
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