How Ezdehar Catalyzed Dsquares’s Success

Dsquares at a Glance

Dsquares, founded in 2011, leads the way in B2B loyalty and rewards solutions across various
industries in Egypt and beyond. With a network exceeding 500 merchants and collaborations with
over 7,000 corporates globally, the company specializes in designing comprehensive rewards
programs, utilizing advanced technologies and the founders’ in-depth expertise in digital marketing.
While firmly rooted in Egypt, Dsquares extends its reach across Africa, the GCC, and Eastern Europe,
reflecting a growing global presence.

Transaction Overview

Ezdehar’s partnership with Dsquares began in early 2018 to 2019, marking it as one of the shortest
investments in Ezdehar’s history. Despite this brief period, and with Dsquares commitment,
Ezdehar played a pivotal role in transforming Dsquares’ operations, tackling various challenges,
and setting the company on a path of sustained growth and success.

Hand in Hand with Dsquares Towards Scalability and Expansion

Ezdehar saw Dsquares’ growth potential and decided to invest and start heads on with back-office
functions restructuring to accommodate scalability and navigate through their expansion journey.
The Scaling Up program was implemented to bring a unified strategy to the company, ensuring all
departments were moving towards a shared vision and transitioning Dsquares from a startup to
an enterprise-ready for scaling.

A corporate development function was established, paving the way for more managed operational
initiatives and creating an optimized internal process, especially in hiring, onboarding, and
communication. Key roles, such as CFO, were brought on board with assistance from Ezdehar.
This move, alongside an improved client selection criteria focused on profitable clients, and the
introduction of a systematic pricing strategy, further propelled Dsquares’ trajectory.
To empower strategic decision-making, an ERP system was introduced, and budgeting and
financing processes were revamped.

In the investment period, Ezdehar noted the rising trend of mobile discount coupons in developed
markets and anticipated similar trends cascading into the Middle East. Seeing substantial growth
potential, Dsquares and Ezdehar identified untapped opportunities and areas for expansion,
including data analytics, mobile wallets, and payment solutions. With a history of successful client
acquisition, including notable overseas clients, and a robust growth path, Ezdehar saw Dsquares
not only as a potential leader in Egypt’s B2C market but also as a harbinger of seamless redemption
processes, paving avenues for expansion into new markets.

Navigating Challenges and Defining New Horizons

As all fast-growing businesses are in their growth stages, Dsquares faced numerous challenges
that required strategic solutions to foster sustainable growth. A pivotal challenge was revenue
concentration, where Dsquared depended on a few major clients that brought in the most revenue.
To address this concern, Ezdehar helped Dsquares grow its network and client base by helping
it better organize its business development efforts and guiding Dsquares through
creating client dashboards and more accurate reporting methods to support overall strategic
decision-making when it came to client management.

Operational challenges were also addressed, especially regarding the company’s ability to scale
with a relatively small team. Within a year, with Ezdehar’s aid, Dsquares doubled its headcount
and expanded its operational infrastructure to match the company’s growth trajectory. This
involved the development of robust HR processes to improve employee retention, including
refined onboarding, recruitment, compensation, and benefits strategies. Ezdehar also assisted in
the details as screening and selecting candidates for strategic roles, ensuring the new hires were
seamlessly integrated into the Dsquares team through a well-crafted induction process.

A vital operational improvement was the automation of the pricing system. With the employment
of pricing consultants, who aided in developing pricing tools, ensuring a clear, consistent, and
automated pricing system for every product line and client segment, replacing the manual, per-client process.

This venture into the B2C market through the Lucky app also showcased strategic
diversification in Dsquares’ portfolio. Ensuring the creation of a tool that effectively
manages the relationship between clients and customers, the Lucky app became a focal
point in Dsquares’ offerings. It not only magnified their product suite but also enabled
them to navigate through the B2C market adeptly, leveraging all the partnerships they
had with various vendors.

Partners in Sustainable Growth

While Dsquares has always been driven by a stellar team, with a new energy and
innovative spirit, Ezdehar is proud to have played a role in accelerating their pace
towards success. The journey post-investment saw the realization of pivotal
milestones, notably the innovative Lucky app, strategic regional expansion, and a
sharpened strategic direction, solidifying Dsquares’ robust standing in the loyalty
services domain.

The collective lessons and successes from this partnership have not only enriched
Ezdehar’s future investment strategies have also underscored the potent power
of collaborative, strategic partnerships in the investment landscape. Our journey with
Dsquares serves as a testament to what can be achieved when dynamic, forward-thinking teams converge with strategic, hands-on investment approaches- a synergy
that fast-tracks success, yet is grounded in mutual respect, learning, and a shared
vision of sustainable growth and development.