Wysada, an online retailer of home goods, décor and interior furnishings in the Middle East, has completed a Series A investment round of over USD5 million.
The round was led by Badia Impact Fund, a venture capital fund belonging to Silicon Badia, a global group of venture funds based in New York City and Jordan, with participation from new strategic investors from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) alongside existing investors.
The proceeds, which represents one of the largest Series A rounds raised by an early-stage e-commerce start-up in the Middle East, will be used to fuel the company’s rapid growth and expand current operations in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia. Key strategic priorities for the company include expanded sales and marketing efforts, hiring, procurement and distribution, and a focus on accelerated growth in new markets across the GCC.
Wysada specialises exclusively in luxury home goods sales and has the largest online selection of furniture, home furnishings, décor and goods in the region for its active members with over 700 premium brands.
“Online home goods retailing is a proven and established model in the United States and Europe, and Wysada is pioneering this e-commerce sector in the Arab world. With online users increasing from 74 million today to well over 100 million by 2015 and e-commerce growing by 30 percent annually in our geography, we are well positioned to dominate the market,” says Mohammed Musleh, founder and CEO, Wysada. “Given the incredible traction we’ve experienced since launch, we pursued this round combining local, regional and global expertise to capitalize on this market opportunity. Around 70 percent of our transactions were made by repeat buyers, and we are on track to grow Wysada dramatically over the next six months with a laser focus on serving our loyal members with the coveted and well-respected premium home goods brands, prices and content they have come to except from Wysada.”
“The ecommerce home goods market is trending all over the world and Wysada has fast established itself as the leader in the Middle East that is continually amplified with comparisons to Wayfair Inc and One Kings Lane in the US,” says Namek Zu’bi, managing partner, Silicon Badia. “We are pleased to lead the company’s first formal institutional funding round alongside strong existing and new investors to help position Wysada as the go-to destination for luxury home interiors throughout the Arab world, and to accelerate their growth and market penetration.”
