The Fashion Kingdom (TFK), an Egyptian fashion, beauty and home accessories e-commerce marketplace, today announced that it has raised $2.6 million in seed funding led by CVentures, a venture capital firm based in Egypt. A15, a venture capital start-up in the MENA region that has backed companies like Esaal, Paymob and Helios Investment Partners’ subsidiary TPay, made a follow-on investment, according to TFK.
Fadi Antaki, co-founder and CEO of TFK, founded the company in January 2020 with Marianne Simaika and Karim Abd El Kader. They launched the e-commerce platform six months later. Antaki is also a general partner at A15. Antaki noticed the need for a platform that sold fashion products with fast deliveries, different payment methods and a recommendation function in Egypt. This opportunity allowed the CEO to tap into the knowledge he had gained as a child born into a family with a long history in the apparel business to launch TFK.
“We created the company before COVID. And back then we saw a big gap or maybe a lack of focus on a place dedicated to selling fashion products, recommendations on what to wear, fast deliveries and different payment methods . There was no one focused on that, especially in fashion,” Antaki said.
TFK offers a range of products – shoes, beauty products, personal care, accessories, home fashion and more. – that cater to different demographics. The platform helps local and international brands increase their online sales through their curated marketplace that provides an omnichannel experience for customers: a place where shoppers can find all their fashion needs and swap products when needed. need.
There are over 200 brands on the TFK platform, which are growing 10-15% month over month. It has more than 150,000 customers; each month, about 40% of its sales come from loyal customers.
The platform not only lists the products of all these brands for customers’ viewing and shopping pleasure, but also provides ancillary services to them. TFK provides a virtual fitting room that helps brands get used to their customers’ sizes and recommend outfits to customers for different occasions. Additionally, its “360-degree value proposition” for brands is to offer a one-stop solution covering operations, co-marketing and digital content creation services.
“Earlier this year, we found that one of the most important areas we felt we needed to focus on was brand. There are quality and price brands that don’t have the know-how to sell in line. They need a lot of support in operations, fulfillment, warehousing, digital production and photography,” the CEO said. “So in addition to selling their products, we help them on the various aspects that could then sell well online, either supporting the operation or the marketing side. And for us, it’s not just about reselling their products, but also becoming their digital partners. »
The fashion e-commerce platform generates revenue through the traditional model where it has a product markup and a consignment model where it takes a commission. Supporting revenue streams come from the additional services she provides to brands, such as photography and marketing. The company’s total sales volume increased 3x from April 2021 to April 2022, Antaki confirmed.
In 2021, the value of the global fashion e-commerce market was nearly $700 billion. By the end of 2022, it is expected to surpass that figure and reach around $1.2 trillion in three years. According to Statista, the total addressable market in Egypt is approximately $4.2 billion. With no undisputed market leader in Egypt’s fashion e-commerce space, Antaki says his company is poised to become one and stay ahead of players such as DressCode, Brantu and Gahez due to its advantage over brands.
“We have two main differentiators. One is the omnichannel experience. The second is not just to be a reseller, but rather to be a partner to brands and help them become sustainable and even grow their business through our platform and other services we can provide,” said he declared.
Other investors in the round include Lotus Capital, Raba Capital, Sunny Side Venture Partners, Foundation Ventures, The Cairo Angels and fashion industry veterans such as Paul Antaki and Nasser Chourbag.
According to the company statement, TFK will use the investment to accelerate its growth, develop scalable technology and grow its team, whose female employees make up 43% of the total workforce and 50% of the company’s executives. “We intend to fill talent needs, build our technology, optimize our operations and the end-customer experience. So basically using the funds in technology, talent and operations,” added the CEO.
Tech
