UAE - Mubasher: Opontia, a Dubai and Riyadh-based startup, has raised $20 million in seed funding, which is one of the largest seed rounds in the Middle East and Africa region.
Launched in March 2021, Opontia will benefit from the seed funding to acquire e-commerce brands and invest in a team of e-commerce experts in the Middle East and Africa, who will manage and grow brands after acquisitions, according to a press release on Monday.
The seed round was led by Raed Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Presight Capital, and Kingsway Capital with participation from angel investors such as Tushar Ahluwalia, CEO of Razor Group, and Jonathan Doerr, former CEO of Daras and co-founder of Jumia.
The CEO of Opontia, Philip Johnston, said: "We founded Opontia to enable e-commerce entrepreneurs to realise the potential of their brands, both in terms of getting an exit now, as well as benefiting from future growth."
Meanwhile, the co-CEO of Opontia, Manfred Meyer, commented: "The market in the Middle East and Africa region is currently less mature than in the West but is growing much faster than any other market in the world, with the number of entrepreneurs selling on marketplaces growing at over 50% per year."
