Nadya Eka Lestari
TechInAfrica – Tunisian peer-to-peer fashion marketplace, Dabchy, banks US$300,000 in seed round. The company plans to increase its team and expand to other countries in MENA region.
Dabchy is a marketplace where users can buy and sell pre-used, new clothes, and accessories for women and kids online. With its Android app has been downloaded over 100,000 times, the startup at the present time has over 400,000 users spread throughout Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. The company is founded by Amani Mansouri, Ghazi Ketata, and Oussama Mahjoub in 2016.
The startup has successfully raised a seed funding round of US$300,000 led by 500 Startups and joined by Flat6Labs, Saudi Venture Company (SVC), Khobar-based Vision Ventures, and Daal Venture Capital, plus a group of angel investors. This fund will be used to expand the company’s operations and arise in the online fashion industry.
“With this investment, Dabchy will accelerate its investment in product development, expand its team and regional footprint, and scale our platform to continue to make it easier for our users to buy and sell,” Mansouri stated.
He also continued, “at Dabchy, we operate as a trusted third-party between buyers and sellers and have facilitated more than 100,000 transactions to-date. Our ambition is to become the number one fashion marketplace in the region and to empower a new generation of women to become microentrepreneurs by creating their own business online and to take a lead role in sustainability.”
Mentioned in a statement, Hasan Haider from 500 Startups said that he was glad to support the team di Dabchy, which represented their first investment in the Tunisian market.
“What the team has managed to achieve so far has been amazing, and we look forward to Dabchy continuing to lead the way for used fashion online in North Africa. There are a significant market need and demand for the product, and that has already been demonstrated by their traction so far,” Haider said.
Dabchy was also the first investment for Vision Ventures and Daal Venture Capital in a Tunisian startup.
Kais Al-Essa, the founding partner of Vision Ventures, said in a statement, “This market is starting to boom and the community is young and tech-savvy. Dabchy’s business model proved to be needed in the market with a limited investment, we expect it will dominate soon with further investment especially in the leadership of the talented Amani Mansouri.” He also had been considering to expand to the North Africa market other than Egypt for some time.
Growing at a rapid pace, Dabchy claims that they have doubled the item catalog listed on the platform to 420,000 which makes it the largest online store in Tunisia, according to their statement. They also stated that they are adding over 2,000 items every day.
They are also developing fast by being a part of Flat6Labs Tunis’ first accelerator program and is currently taking part in Womentum, an accelerator program for female founders from Womena, which based in Dubai. In accordance with a statement, Dabchy was also the first African and Tunisian startup to have joined European Fashion Tech Incubator in 2018.
Source: MENAbytes.com
