Prime Highlights-
- Raff has helped over 900 brands across nine countries, including the GCC and UK, since launching less than 18 months ago.
- GCC retail market is valued at more than $300 billion a year, with offline expansion still fragmented and costly.
Key Facts-
- Raff closes $1.7 million pre-seed round led by Vision Ventures to bridge online and offline retail.
- Funding will support Raff’s GCC expansion and boost product development and AI capabilities.
Background-
Raff, a Saudi-based technology platform linking consumer brands directly with retailers, has closed a $1.7 million pre-seed round led by Vision Ventures. Backers included 500 Global, Palm VC, Oqal Group, and Salla co-founder Salman Butt, among others. The capital will fuel Raff’s push across the GCC and speed up its product and AI development.
The startup is tackling a gap in regional retail. Digital platforms have made launching online straightforward, yet moving into physical retail still means fragmented, costly work, with separate onboarding, logistics, and deals needed for every retailer, inside a GCC retail market worth upward of $300 billion a year.
Raff’s platform handles distribution, inventory management, order fulfillment, and payments end to end, while automating workflows for retailers and simplifying vendor management through ties with regional point-of-sale and accounting systems.
Ali Al Qudah and Abdul Kareem Munla founded Raff in 2024, pooling backgrounds in e-commerce, technology, finance, and operations. Al Qudah had scaled two e-commerce brands and worked at Salla before serving as Head of Growth at legal-tech startup Qanoniah, while Munla carries over two decades of experience in financial management and governance.
Al Qudah said the idea grew from firsthand struggles helping brands push past online sales, and that the funding will support GCC expansion. Vision Ventures CEO Kais Al-Essa pointed to the firm’s earlier bet on Salla, saying Raff represents a similar opportunity as brands move into physical retail.
In under 18 months, Raff has helped more than 900 brands across nine countries, spanning the GCC and UK, expand through physical retail.
