Saudi retail technology startup Raff has raised $1.7 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate its expansion across the GCC and strengthen its technology and AI capabilities.
The round was led by Vision Ventures, with participation from 500 Global, Palm VC, Oqal Group, and several angel investors, including Salman Butt, Co-founder of Salla.
Founded in Saudi Arabia in 2024 by Ali Al Qudah and Abdul Kareem Munla, Raff is building a technology platform designed to make it easier for consumer brands to move beyond e-commerce and expand into physical retail.
Bridging the Online-to-Offline Retail Gap
While digital platforms and marketplaces have significantly lowered the barriers for brands to launch and scale online across the GCC, entering physical retail remains considerably more complex.
Brands typically need to manage separate relationships with retailers, logistics providers, onboarding processes, inventory systems, payments, and commercial agreements. Raff aims to bring these fragmented processes into a single digital infrastructure.
Its end-to-end platform digitises distribution, commercial operations, inventory management, order fulfilment, and payments, enabling brands to reach physical retailers more efficiently.
For retailers, Raff automates key operational workflows and simplifies the management of multiple vendors. The platform also integrates with leading point-of-sale and accounting systems used across the region.
The opportunity is significant, with the GCC retail market valued at more than $300 billion annually, according to the company.
More Than 900 Brands Across Nine Countries
Raff has already gained notable traction since its launch less than 18 months ago. The company says it has enabled more than 900 brands across nine countries, spanning the GCC and the UK, to expand their presence through physical retail channels.
Co-founder and CEO Ali Al Qudah previously built and scaled two e-commerce brands before joining Saudi e-commerce platform Salla as an early employee. He later served as Head of Growth at legal-tech startup Qanoniah.
Co-founder Abdul Kareem Munla brings more than two decades of experience in financial management and business operations, including financial transformation, governance, compliance, and operational efficiency.
“We built Raff after experiencing firsthand how difficult it was for growing brands to move beyond online sales,” Al Qudah said, adding that the new investment will help the company accelerate its GCC expansion and continue developing the infrastructure connecting brands with offline customers.
Kais Al-Essa, Founding Partner and CEO of Vision Ventures, said the investor sees a growing opportunity as digital-first brands increasingly look to establish a presence in physical retail. Having previously backed the transition from offline to online through its early investment in Salla, Vision Ventures now sees Raff addressing what it describes as the reverse shift — helping online brands efficiently access offline distribution.
What’s Next
Raff plans to use the new capital to expand across GCC markets, accelerate product development, and strengthen its AI capabilities.
As consumer brands increasingly adopt omnichannel strategies, Raff is positioning itself as the infrastructure layer connecting the region’s rapidly growing digital brand ecosystem with its much larger physical retail market.
Source: Raff press release
