The Cairo-based digital-led home and décor Dutch company, ariika, announced the conclusion of its Series A equity funding round, secured from Beltone Venture Capital, a subsidiary of Beltone Financial Holding, through acquiring a 20% stake in the company.
The capital will be invested by ariika to fund its geographic expansion into Saudi Arabia, further expansion of its omni-channel go-to-market strategy, and develop its technological infrastructure and digital design capabilities by capitalizing on advanced AR tools.
The investment marks a milestone for ariika, boosting its growth momentum and accelerating its regional expansion across the MENA region, starting with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia planned for the fourth quarter of 2023.
ariika is transforming a US$20 billion home and décor industry in MENA, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (“CAGR”) of c.10% per annum, by consolidating a fragmented market and creating an inspirational digital-led home destination focusing on superior product assortment, reasonable price points, and unmatched online and offline customer experience.
Since its launch in 2016, the company has been growing by a CAGR of more than 85% and directly serving more than 800,000 customers worldwide, with exports contributing to more than 15% of its business and completing more than 3,000 projects with the biggest real estate developers and industry leaders in the region.
“With our relentless focus on compelling product, customer service and profitable growth, we continue to outperform our peers, gain market share and distinguish ourselves as one of the fastest growing digital-first, design-led, home brands, Khaled Attallah, ariika’s CEO and Co-Founder said.
“We are a value-based brand focusing on our people, customers, quality, and profits. Our focus since day one is to build a sustainable model that is operationally profitable and growing disproportionately with solid unit economics while putting our customers in the center of everything we do,” Attallah added.
Attallah further explained: “Our expansion into Saudi Arabia represents a big milestone for us as we are well positioned to replicate our success story in such a strategic market with a significant potential upside for the business and provide great value for our Saudi customers.”
Ali Mokhtar, Beltone Venture Capital’s CEO added: ”We are excited to support ariika and its leadership team to achieve their vision and lead the home and décor sector in the MENA Region. ariika is considered the most promising company within an encouraging sector that commanded strong operational performance over the last couple of years. With ariika’s ambitious expansion plans set in place, the company is well positioned to become the leading supplier of home and décor products to all households in the region.”
White & Case, El-Boraie Law Firm, and Van Doorne were legal advisors on the transaction.
Beltone Venture Capital is a subsidiary of Beltone Financial Holding, which was established in 2023 and aims to stimulate and provide sustainable funding for early-stage tech and tech-enabled startups in Egypt with regional ambitions, taking on an early leadership role along with the founders.
Since its inception in 2023, Beltone Venture Capital has successfully concluded 4 transactions namely Bosta, WayUp Sports, SehaTech, and ariika.
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