Spanish startup Glovo intends to invest 5 million euros ($5.5 million) in Egypt during the coming period, an executive at the company’s Egyptian unit said. The firm is also targeting 50 per cent of the online delivery market in Egypt within 18 months.

The company’s market share in Egypt is now 21 per cent, Mustafa Kamel, sales manager at Glovo Egypt, told Reuters in an interview.

Glovo, which was founded in 2015 and operates in 28 countries, entered Egypt in 2018. Its activities there are limited to the capital Cairo and Alexandria, the second-largest city.

“Our target by the end of 2020 is to cover 16 cities in Egypt,” Kamel said. “We have invested 5 to 8 million euros since we entered, and during the coming period, we intend to invest another 5 million euros.”

Online delivery companies in Egypt account for only 25 per cent of delivery services in the country, with 75 per cent of customers still depending on call centres, Kamel said.

“You see a very promising market in Egypt, especially with the growth of the smartphone market,” he added.

Glovo delivers a wide range of products and its competitors in Egypt include Uber Eats, Otlob and Elmenus.

“Food accounted for 95 per cent of orders when we started working in Egypt.

Currently, the percentage has dropped to about 72 per cent,” Kamel said.

Glovo is a Spanish start-up founded in Barcelona in 2015. It is an on-demand courier service that purchases, picks up, and delivers products ordered through its mobile app. It aspires to be a multi-category lifestyle app with food delivery being the most popular offering. The company was founded by Oscar Pierre and Sacha Michaud.

Reuters