Belal El-Megharbel: Revolutionizing the Middle East’s Grocery Supply Chain
In recent years, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has witnessed a wave of young entrepreneurs redefining traditional industries through technology and innovation. Among them, Belal El-Megharbel, the co-founder and CEO of MaxAB, stands out as a leading figure in Egypt’s growing startup ecosystem. His journey — from a management consultant at global corporations to leading one of the region’s most transformative B2B e-commerce platforms — reflects the spirit of modern entrepreneurship in the Arab world.
Early Life and Education
Belal El-Megharbel was born and raised in Egypt, a country where small and medium-sized retailers form the backbone of the local economy. Growing up, he witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by shop owners and distributors in managing their supply chains. These early observations would later inspire his entrepreneurial vision.
He pursued his higher education in engineering, equipping himself with strong analytical and problem-solving skills. His academic background gave him the technical foundation to approach complex systems and logistics challenges that he would eventually tackle through MaxAB.
After completing his education, Belal began his professional career in management consulting, working with international firms and gaining exposure to business operations, efficiency optimization, and large-scale strategy implementation. His time in consulting honed his ability to identify market inefficiencies and design scalable solutions — a skill set that became invaluable when he transitioned into the startup world.
Professional Beginnings at Careem
Before founding MaxAB, Belal worked with Careem, the Middle Eastern ride-hailing company that later became a household name across the region. Careem, founded in Dubai, was known for its ambitious mission to make transportation more accessible and efficient across developing markets.
Belal’s role at Careem was pivotal. As General Manager for Egypt, he was responsible for expanding operations, growing market share, and navigating regulatory, logistical, and operational challenges. Under his leadership, Careem Egypt experienced significant growth and became one of the company’s most important markets.
The experience at Careem gave Belal deep insights into how digital platforms can disrupt traditional markets. More importantly, it exposed him to the potential of technology in solving large-scale, everyday problems in the Middle East. He learned how data-driven decision-making, customer-centric design, and operational scalability could transform outdated business models — lessons that would shape his next venture.
The Birth of MaxAB
In 2018, Belal El-Megharbel teamed up with Mostafa El-Beltagy, another visionary Egyptian entrepreneur, to launch MaxAB — a B2B e-commerce platform designed to modernize Egypt’s fragmented grocery supply chain.
The idea behind MaxAB was simple yet powerful: create a digital marketplace that connects small grocery store owners directly with suppliers, eliminating inefficiencies, reducing costs, and ensuring more reliable delivery. In a country where over 400,000 traditional retailers form the majority of the grocery retail sector, the problem was massive — and so was the opportunity.
Before MaxAB, small shop owners often relied on informal networks to stock their shelves. They dealt with multiple middlemen, unpredictable delivery schedules, and fluctuating prices. Belal recognized that by digitizing this system, he could unlock enormous value for both retailers and suppliers.
Building a Tech-Driven Supply Chain
MaxAB was launched with a mission to empower small retailers through technology and logistics. The company developed a mobile app where store owners could order everything they needed — from beverages to packaged foods — in just a few clicks. Behind the scenes, MaxAB built an advanced supply chain network that ensured timely and reliable deliveries.
Under Belal’s leadership, MaxAB focused on three pillars:
- Efficiency – Using data analytics to forecast demand, manage inventory, and optimize delivery routes.
- Empowerment – Giving small business owners better access to products, transparent pricing, and digital tools to manage their operations.
- Expansion – Scaling rapidly to serve new cities and countries while maintaining service quality.
By addressing a real pain point in one of the region’s largest informal sectors, MaxAB quickly became a lifeline for thousands of mom-and-pop shops. Within a few years, the company expanded beyond Cairo to multiple Egyptian cities and into Morocco, marking its entry into North Africa’s wider market.
Investment and Growth
MaxAB’s success story also attracted significant investor interest. Since its founding, the company has raised over $100 million in funding from global and regional venture capital firms, including Beco Capital, 4DX Ventures, and Endure Capital.
These funds helped MaxAB expand its logistics infrastructure, build technology capabilities, and enter new markets. Belal’s leadership in securing investment reflected not only his business acumen but also investors’ confidence in his vision of transforming traditional retail across the region.
The company’s merger with WaystoCap — a Moroccan B2B e-commerce platform — was a strategic move to strengthen MaxAB’s presence across North Africa. The merger allowed the company to leverage local expertise while unifying technology and logistics systems under a single operational model.
Vision and Leadership Philosophy
Belal El-Megharbel’s leadership style combines innovation, empathy, and data-driven decision-making. He believes that entrepreneurship is not merely about profits but about solving real problems that improve people’s lives. His approach is deeply rooted in the understanding that sustainable success comes from creating long-term value for communities.
He often emphasizes that MaxAB’s impact goes beyond business. The company’s operations have created thousands of jobs in logistics, technology, and sales. Moreover, by digitizing small retailers, MaxAB is helping them access financial services, inventory management tools, and data insights — empowering them to grow their businesses in ways that were previously impossible.
Belal’s vision also extends to financial inclusion. By working with fintech partners, MaxAB aims to enable digital payments and credit access for small retailers, bridging the gap between traditional commerce and the digital economy.
Challenges and Resilience
Building a startup in the Middle East is no easy task. Entrepreneurs face challenges such as limited infrastructure, fluctuating market conditions, and complex regulatory environments. For Belal and his team, the COVID-19 pandemic added another layer of difficulty, disrupting supply chains and logistics worldwide.
However, MaxAB’s technology-first model allowed it to adapt quickly. The company played a crucial role in maintaining food supply during lockdowns, proving its resilience and importance to local communities. Under Belal’s guidance, MaxAB not only survived but grew stronger, emerging as one of Egypt’s fastest-growing startups.
Recognition and Impact
Belal El-Megharbel’s achievements have earned him widespread recognition in the regional and global startup community. He has been featured in Forbes Middle East’s “30 Under 30” list and in several reports highlighting the most influential entrepreneurs in the Arab world.
More importantly, his company’s success has inspired a new generation of Egyptian entrepreneurs to pursue bold ideas and use technology to tackle structural problems in traditional industries.
MaxAB’s model has become a case study in how digital transformation can uplift entire economic sectors. By formalizing and digitizing the informal retail ecosystem, the company is contributing to Egypt’s broader economic modernization.
Looking Ahead
Belal El-Megharbel continues to focus on scaling MaxAB across emerging markets in the MENA region. His long-term vision is to build a digital ecosystem where small retailers have the same technological advantages as large corporations.
He also advocates for regional collaboration and knowledge-sharing among entrepreneurs to strengthen the Middle Eastern startup scene as a whole. As global investors increasingly look toward Africa and the Middle East for innovation, Belal’s journey exemplifies the region’s potential for global impact.
Conclusion
Belal El-Megharbel represents the new face of Middle Eastern entrepreneurship — innovative, resilient, and deeply committed to solving real-world problems. Through MaxAB, he has revolutionized the grocery supply chain, empowered small business owners, and demonstrated that meaningful change begins with vision and execution.
His story is not just about building a successful company; it’s about transforming how commerce works in the developing world. In doing so, Belal has positioned himself — and MaxAB — as pioneers of inclusive economic growth in the digital age.
Published: 3rd December 2025
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