With consumers increasingly turning to create an online presence and understanding the importance of being accessible, startups that are active in the e-commerce industry seem to be flourishing. Additionally, over the last few years, more startups are also choosing to focus on a particular type of item, for instance, Fashion & Beauty e-commerce deals have seen a significant increase.
Despite being hit heavily by the COVID-19 crisis and consumers having fewer reasons to order new heels or dresses and get their hair, nails, or makeup done, the Fashion and Beauty industry now seems to be slowly recovering, with 24 deals taking place this year already. Several players would have been forced to shift online towards digital solutions and break familiar habits, in order to maintain and continue growth. However, it should be asked, can the Fashion and Beauty industry truly be digitised? Can salons and personal luxury experiences really be services that can be replaced by online digital solutions?
Nevertheless, Fashion and Beauty brands and businesses appear to be on the rise in MENA and with the increase of ‘influencers’ across the region, it is becoming the go-to approach for well-established brands, as well as startups to use influencers to actively promote and grow their user base and revenue. Namely, Dubai-based Huda Beauty who turned a small beauty blog into a billion-dollar business and has been declared as one of the ten most powerful influencers in the world of beauty by Forbes, whilst also using influencers to promote her own brand.
Learn more about the startups who are influencing the industry and putting it on the map in the region. Meet them below.
The companies listed are based on MAGNiTT data of the 4 MENA-based Fashion and Beauty startups that have raised the highest amount of disclosed funding.
1. Shedul
Shedul is a free Saas-enabled platform for salons and spas around the world use to streamline their business operations. The company has captured a vast customer base of merchants in more than 120 countries, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The company has also launched its consumer marketplace Fresha.com, which connects merchants using free business software to consumers online.
Shedul has raised a total of $36.6M across 4 investment rounds.
2. The Luxury Closet
The Luxury Closet is a Dubai-based regional marketplace to buy and sell luxury items such as handbags, clothes, watches, and jewelry from top luxury brands e.g. Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Cartier, and Rolex. The site features a luxury catalogue of 15000+ unique styles, and customers from over 40 countries each year.
To date, The Luxury Closet has raised $21.6M across 7 funding rounds.
3. Eyewa
Eyewa specialises in the online retail of sunglasses, eyeglasses, prescription contact lenses, and coloured contact lenses, and offers a wide choice catered towards the latest fashion trends with a highly customised user experience throughout the discovery, ordering, packaging, and delivery process. It is now the largest online eyewear retailer in the UAE and KSA.
Eyewa has received over $11M in funding, in 4 rounds.
4. Golden Scent
Golden Scent is a KSA-based platform that offers international branded perfumes, cosmetics, skincare, and hair products. The startup was established in 2014 and was recognised regionally to deliver premium brands to all of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates & Kuwait. They have launched an “Augmented Reality” feature which enables users to try on hundreds of products before buying them. The app now has more than 3 million downloads.
Golden Scent has received a total of $4.1M in 2 investment rounds.
Source: Magnitt