Lezzoo, an on-demand delivery platform has announced its acquisition of Saydo, the region’s B2B marketplace. Saydo was founded by Gillian Harshami and Mohammed Azeed in August 2021. This acquisition represents a strategic move for Lezzoo toward its B2B expansion plans as it works to digitize Iraq’s food supply chain, food is Iraq’s third-largest economic sector.
The smaller markets in MENA such as Kuwait, Tunisia, Jordan, and Iraq have been very active in the VC space lately. Talking about Iraq, the region has seen its fair share of economic and socio-political hurdles but the venture capital space in Iraq has been observing consistent YoY growth surpassing the funding it raised over the past two years in 2022 YTD. This year, the Transport & Logistics sector has been championing the rise of this space as Super App BALY raised a $10.5M SEED round earlier this year coupled with F&B startup TipTop’s $5M round, aiding the Iraqi venture space in reaching an all-time funding-high.
According to Lezzoo, this acquisition marks the start of multiple expansion activities toward its vision of leading B2B e-commerce in emerging markets, beginning with Iraq, and enabling a regional network to connect buyers and sellers across multiple markets. Yadgar Merani, Founder and CEO of Lezzoo mentioned: “We are excited to join forces with Gillian and Mohammed and the amazing team at Saydo, their hyperlocal understanding of the Iraqi market is profound, and we believe that our visions are in harmony toward reinventing the B2B ecosystem across the region. We are committed to innovate in our space and continue on our mission of building an end-to-end solution for restaurants and retailers in Iraq with the leverage of our technology.”
The two startups have built a merchant network of both restaurants and retailers with Lezzoo’s existing network. Gillian Harshami, Saydo’s founder and CEO, also commented on the acquisition, “Saydo’s journey has been rewarding by providing clever supply chain solutions to businesses in Kurdistan and Iraq. Today, we are joining forces with Lezzoo to create a stronger entity with a solid footprint, network, and technological capabilities in the region.”
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Last Updated on December 14, 2022 by Safiya K
