Manfred Meyer, left, and Philip Johnston founded Opontia in March. The company buys smaller e-commerce businesses and scales them. Courtesy Opontia
Manfred Meyer, left, and Philip Johnston founded Opontia in March. The company buys smaller e-commerce businesses and scales them. Courtesy Opontia
Manfred Meyer, left, and Philip Johnston founded Opontia in March. The company buys smaller e-commerce businesses and scales them. Courtesy Opontia
Manfred Meyer, left, and Philip Johnston founded Opontia in March. The company buys smaller e-commerce businesses and scales them. Courtesy Opontia

Dubai-based Opontia raises $20m to acquire and grow e-commerce brands


Alkesh Sharma
  • English
  • Arabic

Opontia, an e-commerce start-up based in Dubai and Riyadh, raised $20 million in seed funding to expand its business across the Middle East and Africa region.

The funding round was led by various venture capital firms including Dammam-based Raed Ventures, Berlin’s Global Founders Capital, London-based Kingsway Capital and New York's Presight Capital.

Many angel investors – including Tushar Ahluwalia, chief executive of consumer holding company Razor Group, online shopping site Jumia's co-founder Jonathan Doerr and Hosam Arab, chief executive of FinTech start-up Tabby – also participated in the funding round.

The investment will help Opontia to acquire “exceptional e-commerce brands and invest in a team of experienced e-commerce experts” in the region, the company said. The team will be responsible for managing and growing the newly-acquired brands, it added.

Launched in March, Opontia buys smaller e-commerce businesses and scales them, according to its website. It also allows entrepreneurs to profit from future growth.

“We saw that many sellers had started their brand because they were passionate about their product and their customers but had hit a ceiling in terms of how far they could grow due to constraints on working capital, operations, logistics and commercial management,” Philip Johnston, co-founder and co-chief executive of Opontia, said.

E-commerce sales are set to triple in the Mena region to $28.5 billion in 2022, from $8.3bn in 2017, according to research from Bain & Company and Google.

The region's e-commerce market received a further boost last year as homebound users began to shop online amid the pandemic.

Opontia, which is planning to open offices in Istanbul, Cairo and Lagos in the coming months, has recruited a team of executives from Amazon, Noon, McKinsey, Uber-Eats and Namshi to spearhead its growth in the region, the company said.

“The market in the 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 cent per year,” Manfred Meyer, co-founder and co-chief executive of Opontia, said.

Start-ups in the Mena region secured $1.03bn in funding last year, up 13 per cent compared with 2019, according to data platform Magnitt. E-commerce start-ups, along with FinTech companies, received the bulk of the funding.

On Monday, a Jordan-based online classifieds marketplace OpenSooq.com said it raised $24m from the Saudi Jordanian Investment Fund (SJIF), FJ Labs and iMENA Group to further expand its operations.

OpenSooq allows SMEs to trade across sectors including real estate, auto, electronics, furniture and fashion. It also connects consumers with service providers in categories such as education, training and home repair services.

OpenSooq has a total of 65 million consumers and businesses that trade through its platform. The total value of items sold through it amounts to $30bn per year. OpenSooq is active in markets including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt and Libya.

The start-up said it plans to use the funding to hire 400 people in Jordan and further invest in developing in-house technology.

GIANT REVIEW

Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan

Director: Athale

Rating: 4/5

Company info

Company name: Entrupy 

Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist

Based: New York, New York

Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.  

Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius. 

Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place. 

Company profile

Company: Verity

Date started: May 2021

Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif

Based: Dubai

Sector: FinTech

Size: four team members

Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000

Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
MATCH INFO

Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)

Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm

The specs

Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors

Power: Combined output 920hp

Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic

Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km

On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025

Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000

Tips to keep your car cool
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  • Park in shaded or covered areas
  • Add tint to windows
  • Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
  • Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
  • Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Groom and Two Brides

Director: Elie Semaan

Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

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TRAP

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Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

Results

2.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Mezmar, Adam McLean (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).

3pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m; Winner: AF Ajwad, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.

3.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Gold Silver, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel.

4pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m; Winner: Atrash, Richard Mullen, Ana Mendez.

4.30pm: Gulf Cup Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Momtaz, Saif Al Balushi, Musabah Al Muhairi.

5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Al Mushtashar, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

TOUR RESULTS AND FIXTURES

June 3: NZ Provincial Barbarians 7 Lions 13
June 7: Blues 22 Lions 16
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June 17: Maori All Blacks 10 Lions 32
June 20: Chiefs 6 Lions 34
June 24: New Zealand 30 Lions 15 (First Test)
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July 1: New Zealand 21 Lions 24 (Second Test)
July 8: New Zealand v Lions (Third Test) - kick-off 11.30am (UAE)

Islamophobia definition

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MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Qualifier A, Muscat

(All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv) 

Fixtures

Friday, February 18: 10am Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain 

Saturday, February 19: 10am Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain 

Monday, February 21: 10am Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines 

Tuesday, February 22: 2pm Semi-finals 

Thursday, February 24: 2pm Final 

UAE squad:Ahmed Raza(captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia

The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer

Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000

Engine 3.6L V6

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm

Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km

1971: The Year The Music Changed Everything

Director: Asif Kapadia

4/5

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets