The Startup Digitising Commercial Vehicle Trade in Egypt

Cairo-based startup Machinat is a digital marketplace taking on Egypt’s fragmented commercial vehicles market, an often-overlooked sector at the heart of domestic logistics. Beyond a place to buy and sell trucks, buses, and vans, however, Machinat has brought the entire offline ecosystem since launching in July 2025 into one digital platform, including financing, insurance, and aftersales.

“Everything is moving towards digital online ecosystems in Egypt - with the exception of commercial vehicles. It’s a very decentralised, offline industry,” says Ahmed Samir, CEO of Machinat. “We’re trying to put the whole ecosystem in one platform. Instead of dealing with A for procurement, B for insurance, and C for financing, you’ll deal only with Machinat and we’ll open up the entire network for you.”

For individual buyers in this market, such as truck-drivers whose vehicles might be their livelihood, the sell is clear. “Individuals waste a lot of time in the process of buying used vehicles, so we’ve given them a digital market instead of them having to travel around Cairo and Egypt and search,” explains Samir. But in addition to the B2C and C2C model inherent in their market platform, Machinat also operates a B2B model that is central to their revenue streams.