Egyptian home furniture e-commerce startup Efreshli has secured new funding from Algebra Ventures, further cementing its position as a key player in the region’s growing online home furnishing market, Launch Base Africa has learned. While the exact amount of the investment remains undisclosed, the funding comes from Algebra Ventures’ second fund, Algebra Ventures II, which recently reached a $100 million first close, exceeding its initial $90 million target set in 2022.
Founded in 2019 by Heba El-Gabaly, Efreshli offers a technology-enabled platform that streamlines the process of designing and shopping for furniture from home. By bridging the gap between designers, logistics experts, and consumers, the company seeks to simplify home furnishing for Egyptian customers. Efreshli allows users to browse curated collections from over 100 of the country’s top furniture brands, bringing a digital-first experience to an industry traditionally dominated by brick-and-mortar stores.
“Efreshli solves multiple pain points for home-furnishing customers,” El-Gabaly explained. “Our goal is to enable people to create homes that reflect their vision. By combining software innovation with local design expertise, we offer an affordable solution to a large segment of customers, many of whom are looking for convenience and personalization when it comes to furnishing their homes.”
The latest investment from Algebra Ventures comes as Efreshli continues to grow, benefiting from the broader shift towards e-commerce across Egypt. The Egyptian home furnishing market is a multi-billion-dollar industry, but, as El-Gabaly highlighted, it has been slow to embrace e-commerce due to the need for customers to physically inspect products before making expensive purchases. Efreshli aims to change that mindset by offering a virtual yet highly personalized shopping experience.
The investment in Efreshli is part of Algebra Ventures’ strategy to support high-potential startups across Egypt. The Algebra Ventures II Fund has attracted backing from notable international investors, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund (EAEF). The fund also secured commitments from first-time investors such as FMO (Dutch development bank), British International Investment (BII), and regional family offices.
With ticket sizes ranging between $500,000 and $3 million, Algebra Ventures focuses on fostering the growth of startups at various stages of development, aiming to build on the success of its first fund, which also invested in several of Egypt’s leading tech startups. Algebra Ventures II is exclusively dedicated to Egypt and seeks to address the growing demand for digital transformation across sectors such as fintech, e-commerce, and logistics.
Efreshli’s journey began in 2019 when it set out to solve the challenges of home furnishing in Egypt, a market where physical presence and tactile experience had long dominated customer behavior. By 2021, the company had secured $550,000 in seed funding, enabling it to build on its early success and scale its operations. Since then, Efreshli has expanded its product offerings, enhanced its platform, and grown its customer base.
El-Gabaly’s vision for Efreshli was rooted in the intersection of technology and design. The platform brings together a team of software engineers, designers, and logistics professionals to create a seamless user experience. Customers can now visualize how furniture will look in their homes, compare options, and make purchases without the need for in-person store visits.
Editor’s Note
On November 12, 2024 Efreshli announced that apart from Algebra Ventures leading the seed round, there was also participation from 500 Startups, Dar Ventures, and angel investors. As per the press release, Co-founders Heba Elgabaly and Dina Elhaddad, a former Google product lead who recently joined as chief product officer, aim to leverage the capital to strengthen Efreshli’s tech infrastructure and integrate AI for personalized user experiences and optimized design workflows. The company is also launching Efreshli Pro, a feature that enables external designers to collaborate on projects and access a curated furniture catalog, enhancing its ecosystem-driven approach. In tandem with its plans to expand into the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Efreshli opened its first showroom in Arkan Plaza, Sheikh Zayed, offering customers a hands-on experience with its furniture and supporting services like wedding registries and personalized consultations. Algebra Ventures and Dar Ventures highlight Efreshli’s potential to lead in Egypt’s booming furniture industry, with plans to disrupt the region’s architecture, engineering, and construction landscape by delivering accessible, design-centered e-commerce for a growing online customer base.
