Tunisian fashion marketplace Dabchy raises $300k seed round

Tunisian peer-to-peer fashion marketplace Dabchy has raised a $300 000 seed round led by 500 Startups.

Dabchy announced in a statement earlier today that Flat6Labs, Saudi Venture Capital Company, Vision Ventures, Daal VC and a group of other unnamed angel investors had also participated in the round which was concluded this week.

Dabchy enables users to sell and buy pre-used and new clothes online. The Tunis-based startup was founded in 2016 by CEO Ameni Mansouri, Ghazi Ketata and Oussama Mahjoub.

Mansouri (pictured above) said the startup will use the investment to expand its team, regional footprint, as well as for product development and to scale its platform.

Dabchy was founded in 2016 by CEO Ameni Mansouri, Ghazi Ketata and Oussama Mahjoub

The startup said in its statement that it has a community of over 400 000 users in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, with its Android app having been downloaded over 100 000 times.

Mansouri said the Dabchy has facilitated more than 100 000 transactions to date. The startup employs 11 employees.

“Our ambition is to become the number one fashion marketplace in the region and to empower a new generation of women to become micro-entrepreneurs by creating their own businesses online and to take a lead role in sustainability,” he added.

Mansouri told Ventureburn that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) focused startup is particularly focused on expansion in Egypt and Morocco.

Dabchy is the first Tunisian and African startups to have been selected to join European fashiontech incubator Look Forward by Showroomprivé in Paris.

In June, the startup was one of four African startups selected to participate in the second cohort of the four-month Womentum Accelerator.

Last year, Dabchy was among 100 Arab startups that the World Economic Forum and the Bahrain Economic Development Board listed as shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution in 2019 (see this article).

In 2017 the startup was part of Flat6labs Tunis’ first cohort where it raised $60 000 in funding.

This deal marks the first investment in a Tunisian startup by 500 Startups, Daal VC and Vision Ventures.

Hasan Haider, 500 Startups partner, said the fund is “pleased” to back the team behind Dabchy.

“What the team have managed to achieve so far has been amazing, and we look forward to Dabchy continuing to lead the way for used fashion online in North Africa.

“There is a significant market need and demand for the product, and that has already been demonstrated by their traction so far,” added Haider.

Vision Ventures founding partner and CEO Kais Al-Essa said the Saudi venture capitalist has been eyeing the North African market beyond Egypt, specifically looking at Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Editor’s note (25 September 2019): The article has been updated with comments from Dabchy CEO and co-founder Ameni Mansouri on when the round was concluded, the startup’s expansion plans, how many people it employs as well as how much it raised from Flat6labs Tunis.

Featured image: Dabchy CEO and co-founder Ameni Mansouri (Supplied)