Algiers-based ride-hailing startup TemTem has raised $4 million in a Series A round, the startup announced in a statement to MENAbytes. The investment came from Tell Venture Automotive (that’s apparently associated with Tell Group, a Luxembourg-headquartered financial services company) and some other undisclosed investors. TemTem claims that it is the largest Series A investment raised by an Algeria startup.
The announcement of Series A comes a little over a year after TemTem announced its $1.7 million seed round, and takes total investment raised so far by TemTem to $5.7 million which makes it the best-funded Algerian startup.
Founded last year by Kamel Haddar, a serial entrepreneur who has previously founded some other digital ventures (and continues to lead them), TemTem offers ride-hailing services (of regular taxis, different types of cars, and bikes) to both individuals and businesses in Algiers, Oran, and Constantine.
TemTem works directly with over 150 companies to offer different types of ride-hailing services to their employees with the businesses getting invoiced for it at the end of every month. The startup has recently also launched delivery services for businesses.
Kamel in a conversation with MENAbytes revealed that they have plans to expand the services to ten more cities in Algeria without sharing further details.
The startup that currently employs a team of 40, according to the statement, has served over 200,000 customers to date and has over 4,000 drivers in its network.
“Today, TemTem has all cards in hand to become the market leader in the Algerian mobility sector. This new fundraising round confirms TemTem’s competitive position, the relevance of its strategy, and investor confidence in its strong growth potential. With this new capital, TemTem, will lunch two new innovative services centered around improving the daily lives of Algerians,” the startup said in a statement to MENAbytes without disclosing details of what those two new services will be.
Kamel, speaking to MENAbytes, said one of these two services that is set to be launched in December will be massive.
Speaking about how they plan to use the investment, he said, “We are going to first and foremost focus on boosting growth by diversifying our products, scaling up our marketing campaigns, in particular with the help of a major telecom company, and recruiting top talents. The goal is clear: to become the market leader.”
The startup, per statement, offers its drivers with discounts on TemTem, car insurance, after-sale service with car manufacturers, and different benefits for their families.
Kamel Haddar, commenting on this, said, “Our drivers are the backbone of our business. It is essential to value them and give them concrete perspectives in their daily lives. This is also why our partners and their families will soon be able to subscribe to dedicated health insurance.”
The Algerian startup also has plans to expand to other African markets but for now, it’s focusing only on Algeria.
The CEO, speaking about this said that internation expansion has always been in TemTem’s mid-term development outlook and once they’ve covered the Algerian market, they want to work to solve urban transportation issues in different cities of Africa.
Yacine Maireche, General Manager of Tell Venture Automotive, said, “Algeria and Africa represent great opportunities of growth for TemTem. We are delighted to team up with TemTem to support its growth and help improve customer mobility.”
We’ve been hearing about Careem’s plans to expand to Algeria for over a year but it hasn’t launched in Algeria yet so the only competition TemTem has in Algeria is Yassir, another local ride-hailing startup.