Taslema

Taslema started as a hackathon project. It took second place at RiseUp Week in 2019, and then we built it out into a company. Back then there was no app in Upper Egypt that delivered for small shops.

Our pilot was one delivery agent on a monthly salary that we paid from our own pockets, working an eight-hour shift. When it got busy, we did the deliveries ourselves, by taxi and by bike.

Shops wouldn't sign, so we listed them anyway, delivered their orders ourselves, then showed them the volume and signed them.

Taslema was more than a delivery app. We ran one network of delivery agents across the town, and every shop had access to it, which lowered the cost for everyone. And we built ways to reach us that fit how they worked, like an IVR line: a shop could call a number and place an order without talking to anyone. We built them an app too, but most of them weren't comfortable with technology and cared far less about it. They loved the IVR.

Over two years we raised EGP 3 million from accelerators, angels and grants, about USD 185,000 at the rates then. The relationships we made inside the accelerators helped us close the rest of the raise. In 2021 we expanded to Sohag. By March 2022 Taslema had delivered 183,800 orders in the two cities, for 635 active shops.

I was the CEO, and led product and marketing myself. At its peak we were 40 to 50 people: 10 to 12 in the office, and the rest delivery agents and customer service. I left in 2021. I still own part of the company, and it runs today as a small business in Minya.