i‘SUPPLY — MENA’s first Tech-Enabled Distribution Marketplace set to connect pharma businesses and finance small/medium wholesalers and pharmacies — recently raised a total of $1.5m in a pre-seed round led by Disruptech Ventures among other investors.
“With an initial launch late in 2021, i’SUPPLY aims to transform the medicine wholesale distribution in MENA region and Africa by focusing on supporting and empowering the mid- and small-sized wholesalers and pharmacies,” said CEO of i’SUPPLY Ibrahim Emam.
Using the accumulations of 20 years of experience in formulating, shaping, and leading business and commercial strategies as a chief strategy and commercial officer at a leading pharmaceutical distribution company in Egypt, Emam is keen on delivering the value and industry-changing features the platform promises as it seamlessly connects different parts of the supply chain.
Emam elaborated that i’SUPPLY’s vision is to re-engineer the pharmaceutical industry by integrating technological solutions at all supply chain stages.
“The company is building a reliable and integrated network which enhances and augments traditional brick and mortar platforms with data-driven disruptive sales, distribution, and procurement solutions that optimise the procurement processes and provide a one-stop-shop solution that supports industry’s stakeholders to quickly predict and overcome supply chain disruptions,” he explained.
Working towards that vision, i’SUPPLY has seen exponential success and hyper growth in just four months since the launch, reaching $2m GMV, delivering 50K+ sales orders from 100+ wholesalers covering 10K+ SKUs, and having 5K pharmacies onboarded in Great Cairo over this short period of time.
This demonstrates the company’s solid understanding of the market and its extensive expertise and capabilities in the pharmaceutical distribution sector.
Moreover, i’SUPPLY’s strategic focus comes in line with Egypt moving forward with digital transformation tactics across the board, as the country is looking to allocate 7.7% of its GDP to AI by 2030, as mentioned in a report titled ‘The Potential Impact of AI in the Middle East’ that was published by PWC.
In light of this, Malek Sultan — Disruptech’s Co-Founder and Partner — said” “We at Disruptech are very excited to be part of iSupply’s journey, we always stand by and back strong founders like Ibrahim and iSupply’s founding team. We believe that Ibrahim and his team will create a real positive disruption in the industry.”
The technology behind i’SUPPLY is built with different stakeholders in mind to create a seamless experience for each of them using advanced AI algorithms as Mostafa Zaki — i’SUPPLY’s Chief Technology Officer — explains.
“At i’SUPPLY, we remain focused on adopting the latest and most advanced technologies while responding to dynamic business requirements in the most agile, consistent, and structured manner. The goal of our technical team is to provide our users with the most personalised experience possible using AI engines backed by data sources fully integrated with all systems in the market,” he said.
Finally, over the upcoming 12 months, i‘SUPPLY is planning on covering all of Egypt, targeting 60K pharmacies. i’SUPPLY also plans on launching distribution and financing services. Moreover, i’SUPPLY is planning to expand regionally to Africa and MENA.
