Egypt’s Breadfast Secures New Funding, Eyes Expansion Across Africa - Bloomberg

Egypt’s Breadfast Secures New Funding, Eyes Expansion Across Africa - Bloomberg

The United Arab Emirates’ $330 billion sovereign wealth fund, a Saudi billionaire family and Japan’s SBI Investment Co. have backed Egyptian startup Breadfast in its latest financing round, as the e-commerce company considers expanding into other African countries.

The Egyptian firm, which provides customers with everything from fresh bread to payments, has closed a $50 million “pre-Series C” round, and plans to go into a much-larger funding round during the first half of 2026, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mostafa Amin said in an interview.

Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Co., Olayan Financing Company, an investment vehicle for Saudi Arabia’s Olayan family, venture capital firm Y Combinator and the World Bank’s IFC were among the investors in the round, said Amin, who declined to disclose what his company was worth. Breadfast’s valuation was put at almost $400 million when it raised financing in August, Saudi-based tech publication Menabytes reported.

“We’ve closed this round and are starting early conversations with growth investors for a Series C,” Amin said. “The proceeds will be used to expand our infrastructure and grow our business units, and we are also considering starting up operations in other north and west African countries.”

Cairo-based Breadfast started nine years ago by delivering fresh bread to customers and has expanded into offering groceries, meals, pharmaceuticals, a pre-paid card and other services. The company owns most parts of the supply chain, including production of private-label products, delivery and even its own coffee shops.

Breadfast has benefited from Egypt’s young, tech-savvy population, which prioritizes speed, convenience and seamless mobile services. The playbook could translate well across other African countries where similarly young, fast-growing and increasingly urban populations are turning to digital platforms for everything from groceries to entertainment.

Private-label products account for about 40% of its grocery sales and Breadfast plans to take as much as 3% of Egypt’s $100 billion grocery market in the next three years, Amin said. The company’s vertical integration allows it to better serve customers and protect margins from currency and inflation volatility, he added.

“The end goal for us is to go for a global IPO in coming years,” Amin said. “We want to be a multibillion dollar asset coming out of the continent, like Mercado Libre from Latin America or Kaspi from Kazakhstan.”

Other investors in the round include Novastar Ventures, 4DX Ventures and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.