Mtor, an Egyptian online marketplace for auto parts, has announced a $2.8 million pre-seed round led by Algebra Ventures, with participation from the Dutch Founders Fund (DFF), Aditum Ventures, LoftyInc Capital Management, and a number of prominent local and global angel investors.
Starting in 2022, Mtor has revolutionised the automotive aftermarket industry in Egypt, and the company has delivered over 70,000 orders, partnering with over 2,500 car workshops in the greater Cairo area.
“It can be a car owner’s nightmare to get their car serviced. Mtor was founded to fundamentally transform this reality and make the process easier and more efficient, empowering a layer of local car workshops that are well rounded with quality parts, a suitable price position, and a good customer experience,” said Mohamed Maged, CEO of Mtor. “We aim to become the most trusted partner for our mechanics by empowering them to better cater to the car owner’s needs in terms of quality parts and fast service.”
The local automotive aftermarket is inefficient, with a fragmented and scattered supply chain. Workshops and mechanics face many challenges, including limited product availability, inaccurate fitment data, and a lack of price transparency. These issues inevitably trickle down to car owners facing limited-service quality guarantees and a complex, time-consuming spare parts procurement process. Mtor aims to overhaul this system through its controlled, tech-enabled marketplace, backed by its proprietary Mtor Mechanic app, where pricing, availability, and fitment data are reliably just a click away.
“We are building the tech infrastructure where global suppliers and importers, as well as local mechanics, can speak the same language, optimising the supply chain through a controlled, tech-enabled marketplace where pricing, availability, and fitment data are reliably one-click away from workshops,” Maged added.
The funds raised will be used to grow Mtor’s product suite further, digitise local car workshops, and eliminate major inefficiencies in the automotive spare parts supply chain in Egypt and the region. Mtor has partnered with leading spare parts importers to facilitate their distribution to workshops and provide them with the necessary predictive demand data to optimise their importing cycles and cash flow. Above all, Mtor’s fundamental objective is to cultivate an exceptional team to provide stellar products and services across the automotive aftermarket supply chain.
Karim Hussein, Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures, said: “We are delighted to partner with Mtor’s founders and team, who have built an innovative business that solves a significant pain for mechanics, auto parts suppliers, and vehicle owners. Mtor’s unique visual and voice interface, coupled with a sophisticated fitment and parts-matching engine, eliminates the hours spent daily by mechanics hunting for the right part at the right price. We look forward to supporting Mtor’s expansion in Egypt and beyond.”
Laurens Groenendijk, Managing Partner at Dutch Founders Fund, said: “Mtor really fits in our strategy to ‘kill the phone’ in legacy industries. Mtor really adds a lot of value to streamline the procurement processes for the entire market, which is huge in Egypt. There is a lot of work to do to educate local workshops, but I’m sure we are in a prime position to create a big impact in the market.”
