ariika, the leading direct-to-consumer (DTC) digital homeware brand based in Egypt, announces the successful closing of its Series A round from Beltone Venture Capital, a subsidiary of Beltone Financial Holding, through acquiring a 20% stake in the company.
Founded in 2016 by Khaled Attallah, Hassan Arslan and Shahir Arslan, ariika aims to provide simple, modern, yet unique and affordable products to customers in Egypt and across the world. Former university friends, the founders first thought of launching a home and décor brand after deploying their bean bags all over the campus of the American University of Cairo (AUC) in 2011. Witnessing quick uptake and experiencing positive reviews of their products, they decided to launch ariika soon afterwards.
Today, ariika employs more than 100 workers, exports 15% of its business and works with leading multinational brands, hotel chains and real estate industry developers in Egypt and across the region, scaling its product range in the process to include everything from indoor and outdoor products to home accessories.
Since launching, the company has been growing at a CAGR of more than 85% and now serves more than 800,000 customers worldwide, including the US, Europe, and the Middle East. Through this latest investment round, ariika plans to accelerate its growth in Saudi Arabia, and expand its offering with the launch of several products, particularly those with digital design capabilities.
ACCELERATING GROWTH IN SAUDI ARABIA
Although ariika has been selling its products in Saudi Arabia through distributors the last few years, it is now gearing up to enter the market in Q4 of 2023.
“We believe Saudi Arabia is a huge potential market given that it is very fragmented, and players in the sector are either old manufacturers making traditional products with little focus on customer experience, or international brands with high-ticketed items and a lack of the local touch,” Shahir Arslan, Managing Partner at ariika, tells StartupScene. “We believe that ariika has the potential to balance that by becoming a local brand that brings affordable and high-quality products with superior customer experience to our Saudi patrons.”
Revenue in the furniture market in Saudi Arabia amounts to $8.34 billion in 2023, and it is projected to grow annually by 4.37% CAGR between 2023 to 2028, according to Statista.
Seeing an opportunity to transform the home and décor industry, ariika will be focusing on providing its signature quality products while adapting to local trends and designs of the Saudi market, to create uniquely curated pieces at affordable prices. “Our expansion into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents a big milestone for us as we are well positioned to replicate our success story in such strategic market with a significant potential upside for the business and provide great value for our Saudi customers,” says Khaled Attallah, CEO and Co-Founder of ariika.
DRIVING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
With its focus on digital design capabilities, ariika will soon be introducing Augmented Reality (AR) tools to help customers re-imagine and redesign their space, enabling them to see what the new furniture or décor will look like in their home before buying it.
As such, some of the new investment will also go towards developing ariika’s AR technology, further enhancing customer experience and redefining their interactions with the brand. “Augmented Reality will play a very big role in the future of design, providing the opportunity for people to actually view and pick their products before making a purchase, we expect it to enhance the overall purchase experience and play a pivotal role in helping our customers with renovation and redecorating projects,” says Arslan.
This latest funding round marks an important milestone for ariika, boosting its growth momentum and accelerating its regional expansion across the MENA region, starting with Saudi Arabia. “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,” says Ali Mokhtar, CEO of Beltone Venture Capital. “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.”
