The Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF) – the largest investment fund of its kind in Jordan – has announced a direct investment of USD 150,000 in Martix; a Jordan-based online marketplace platform. The investment was made following an investment round during January 2021, which raised a seed fund of USD 300,000 together with UAE-based investment management firm; Select Ventures Holdings.
Founded in 2018, Martix enables local merchants to smoothly transition online and strengthen their ecommerce presence by leveraging state-of-the-art technology tools and workflows, whilst presenting consumers with an aggregated view of on-boarded stores for a seamless shopping experience that allows them to make purchases from multiple stores via one shopping cart. Martix also lends logistics and digital payment solutions, as well as last-mile service providers that are connected to the platform, to both sellers and consumers.
“With services rapidly shifting online, we are placing special emphasis on supporting digital companies that not only possess high growth potential, but also help give rise to Jordan as a regional hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. By depolying the latest technologies to cater to the evolving ecommerce needs of merchants and consumers alike, Martix serves as a prime example of local entrepreneurial success, and we eagerly look forward to seeing how our investment will contribute to the plaform’s development during the upcoming period,” commented ISSF CEO, Laith Al Qasem.
On his part, Subhi Sallam, Martix Founder and CEO, stated, “Martix emerged from the need to streamline the local ecommerce market and create a digital mirror of the local physical market. Our laser-focus on our vision, paired with our deep understanding of market context and dynamics, have been key factors in our success. With Martix, people across Jordan can now shop safely and conveniently online from more than 400 local merchants that have access to over 300,000 consumers on our app. We have a vision and goals that have yet to be achieved, and we are excited to kickstart our next phase with the support of the investment made by the ISSF and Select Ventures Holdings. We cannot wait to reveal what Martix has in store for the region.”
In turn, Amjad Mustafa, Select Ventures Holdings Managing Partner, added, “Community shopping is an important aspect of the Jordanian culture and a growing trend within today’s ecommerce arena. People prefer to buy from stores they know and trust, and Martix has brought those retailers to their customer base via an excellent platform. The strength of Martix is in their business model, scalable technology, customer service and the very hard work of their founding members. We have been alongside Martix since the beginning and are excited to see them progress well beyond the Jordanian market.”
The ISSF is registered as a Jordanian private shareholding company. The objective of the ISSF is to support and elevate Jordan’s entrepreneurial and innovation landscape by facilitating the establishment of new investment funds that serve the ecosystem; making direct investments in innovative, export-oriented and scalable local startups; as well as implementing initiatives that improve the capabilities of Jordanian entrepreneurs and startup teams through training, capacity building and targeted incubation and acceleration programs.