Yassir is a marketplace with many different services, such as ordering a taxi, getting food or groceries delivered, banking, and more. The company announced that it has raised $150 million in Series B funding from a group of major investors around the world.
Yassir Valuation
With $193.25 million raised in the five years since its inception, its valuation is now close to $1 billion. It is the most valuable startup in North Africa and one of the most valuable companies in Africa and the Middle East. With this round of funding, Yassir wants to grow its presence in the area.
Investors
Bond led the investment, and DN Capital, Quiet Capital, Dorsal Capital, Stanford Alumni, Y Combinator, Spike Ventures, and others also took part.
“Yassir” means “easy” in Arabic, and our objective as a company is to make people’s lives easier,” explains Yassir Founder and CEO Noureddine Tayebi. “We are already having a significant impact on how people manage their day-to-day lives in the markets where we operate.”
“We’re excited to enter new markets and become the first “super app” to be used by a lot of people.”
Company Operations
Founded in 2017, the company now operates across six countries and 45 cities with over 8 million customers.
Yassir App
The super app, which is popular in the Maghreb region (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia) and sections of French-speaking Africa, offers three core services: ride hailing, food and grocery delivery, and banking services.
The app, which is an all-in-one ecosystem, offers its consumers a single-point solution for managing all of their daily activities, from getting to work to purchasing groceries and meals.
These services help more than 100,000 partners, such as drivers, couriers, merchants, wholesalers, and other gig workers and vendors.
Services
Yassir offers a core set of services as well as financial services that are meant to support the entire ecosystem. These services touch every part of the multi-sided marketplace. According to 2018 McKinsey & Company research on development and innovation in African retail banking, more than half (57%) of Africa’s population does not have a bank account.
By giving African customers a mobile banking solution as part of a larger set of services, Yassir is meeting a very important market need in a place where 50% of the population already has mobile internet access.
Founder
Noureddine, who is from Algeria and has a PhD from Stanford, lived in Silicon Valley for more than 15 years before going back home to work in Yassir.
First, we want to create a successful model for a local tech startup that others, especially Yassir’s team members, can copy. “Yassir was formed with a tripartite goal,” he continues.
Second, we want to give more power to local talent, especially technical talent, which often leaves the region, mostly to go to school or find work in Europe.
To expand that purpose, we seek engineering expertise in each country where we operate. “Finally, we wish to make our people’s lives easier while instilling social ideals like trust and mutual aid through our products.”
Visit https://yassir.com/en/home/ to learn more about Yassir.
