The Capital Quest | Algerian superapp Yassir bags $150 mn in Series B from BOND, others

On Nov 8, 2022

Algeria-based superapp Yassir, which raised a large Series A round a year ago, has now scooped up one of the biggest funding cheques this year in the African continent by pulling in $150 million in its Series B round.

Mary Meeker’s BOND led the round. DN Capital, Dorsal Capital, Quiet Capital, Stanford Alumni Ventures (Spike Ventures) and Y Combinator, among other investors, also took part in the round.

Yassir has raised $193.25 million in the five years since the company’s launch in 2017. It is now the most valuable startup in North Africa, and one of the highest valued companies in Africa and the Middle East.

With this latest round of funding, Yassir plans to expand its reach into the region.

Noureddine Tayebi, Founder and CEO of Yassir, said: “In the markets where we operate, we are already having a considerable impact on how people manage their day-to-day lives. We look forward to expanding our presence into other geographies to become the first super app to achieve mass adoption.”

The company operates in six countries and 45 cities, where it is used by more than 8 million users. Popular in the Maghreb region (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) and parts of French-speaking Africa, the superapp provides three core services – ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery, and financial services. These services generate revenue for more than 100,000 partners, which include drivers, couriers, merchants, wholesalers, among other gig workers and vendors.

A year ago, it was catering to three million users and had more than 40,000 partners. Both the numbers have more than doubled since then.

Daegwon Chae, general partner at BOND, said, “This investment is an extension of that belief in an underserved but dynamic, rapidly growing region. Emerging out of North Africa, the app has already become indispensable to users for critical aspects of their lives.”