Sawari Ventures invests in Elves

The new investment brought the total pre-Series A financing to approximately $5 million (EGP 78.85 million), the statement added.

Sawari noted that the initial financing round was completed earlier this year in February, with additional follow-on in July.

Elves has reportedly grown their user base by 500% over the last six months, amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the statement.

Sawari Ventures was initially attracted to invest in Elves due to its combination of artificial intelligence and human concierge capabilities, according to Wael Amin, a partner at the VC.

Elves has been scaling up its development in machine learning, besides generating “Alexa Skills at a pace of tens of thousands a month through millions of live human conversations,” the statement said.

Elves App, founded in 2017, uses a “human in the loop” methodology for its platform to drive machine learning to build Alexa Skills, according to Sawari’s press release.

Two year ago, the European Investment Bank signed an agreement to invest $11.3 million (EGP 178.21 million) in Sawari Ventures Fund, marking the bank’s first commitment to a VC fund focused on Egypt.

The company had announced closing a fund to invest in technology and knowledge-driven companies in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco back in 2018.

*At press time, the conversion rate is $1 = EGP 15.77