Enhance, the firm behind online marketplaces for the Middle East and Africa, has raised a seed round of USD 1.5 million with investment from iNet, 500 Startups, Shorooq Investments.
Founded in 2015, Enhance operates Dubai’s joi (joigifts.com), the region’s leading online gifting platform, and plans to utilize funding towards its rapid expansion to the rest of the Middle East.
With offices in Dubai, Riyadh, Jeddah and Cairo, and plans to use these capabilities beyond its current portfolio in subsequent vertical marketplaces, Co-founder Alper Celen says the firm firm is building MENA’s startup infrastructure.
“A Silicon Valley startup has immediate access to hundreds of millions of consumers in one market. In the Middle East, we have a fragmented market with different regulations, and fundraising remains a major challenge. Enhance is built to mitigate these challenges by being able to reuse its infrastructure, marketing, technical and funding resources across different businesses.”
The cash will be instrumental in the next phase of the company’s growth and increase the chances of success for MENA entrepreneurs given the unique challenges in the markets. Enhance promises to build great businesses that will offer better digital experiences to consumers, who are increasingly moving online.
The firm says it has been a great experience building an offline to online migration platform like joi. It now plans to use that experience to continue joi’s rapid growth and launch other vertical marketplaces that benefit from joi’s capabilities.
