Egyptian startup CardoO has received $660,000 in its first investment round, led by the Alexandria Business Angels Network, with the participation of Sofico, angel investors from Saudi Arabia, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). CardoO aims to become the leading Arab brand that provides users with premium and price-effective smart devices that enhance their daily lives by facilitating access to the latest affordable consumer electronics and IoT in the hands of MENA consumers. Cardoo offers many products that meet the needs of the market through cardoo.co online sales, direct sales, channel sales, in addition to retail sales, with existing products, such as mobile game joysticks, VR, CardoO i Note writing and drawing tablet, CardoO smart scale. Ahmed Adel, CEO and founder of CardoO, expressed his happiness with this step, saying: "We are excited to continue our journey in providing electronic devices and the Internet of Things. We are pleased to have strategic investors such as Alexandria Angel Network and Sofico Investments, and angel investors from Saudi Arabia, in addition to the role played by the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) in supporting the company in attending conferences on entrepreneurship, networking efforts with investors and industry professionals, as well as supporting The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), is a provider of infrastructure and advisory services." Adel explained that CardoO aims to revolutionize the world of consumer electronics supported by Internet of things technology, noting that CardoO obtained the first revenue-based financing deal in Egypt with an initial round of $660,000, which confirms that CardoO is a fast-growing brand in the field of consumer electronics for the Internet of Things. The Emerging Technologies market is a promising market, especially since consumers in the Middle East and Africa spend about $25bn annually on this market, while the middle class spends about $10bn. CardoO plans to acquire $200, from the size of the market over the next 5 years according to its strategic plan. The CEO of CardoO added that this investment will allow his company to improve its products, introduce the first superior application of the Internet of Things, in addition to enabling local manufacturers to produce consumer electronics for the Internet of Things under the brand name CardoO and provide them with high-quality technologies to local markets to make Egypt a hub for Consumer Electronics for the Internet of Things in Developing Countries. According to research and studies, every person belonging to the middle class in the Middle East and Africa owns an average of 3 smart devices, and it is expected that the average per capita ownership of smart devices in 2025 will reach 10 devices, up to 3 times the current market, so there is a large gap in the market IoT Consumer Electronics in the region, as this type of product is not available, and there is no clear vision for its application, or consumer awareness of its importance and how to benefit from it. The founder of CardoO confirmed that although some consumer segments feel that consumer electronics supported by the Internet of Things are expensive, CardoO has made several partnerships with local factories and international research and development centres to make the prices of their devices affordable for the middle class, and to support the Egyptian local industry and product, with plans to expand In developing countries. He indicated that the company had recently launched 9 new smart devices, with sales of 100,000 different devices, in addition to the fact that the company was able to conclude several deals with major retailers in Egypt, and provide the company's products in more than 1,000 branches across Egypt. He stressed that the CardoO application is the first of its kind, as it is the first application specialized in "All in One IoT" in the region. Through it, the user can control all CardoO smart products, and can also create different scenarios for the compatibility of devices with each other. The application is easy to use and compatible with all voice assistance such as (Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, etc.) . CardoO recently signed a partnership with the electronic retail giant Amazon to offer its products through it, and it has a similar arrangement with other electronic selling sites, in addition to making deals with many institutions and consumer electronics distribution companies.
