Fashion Kingdom (TFK), an Egyptian e-commerce marketplace for fashion, beauty and home accessories, announced today that it has raised $2.6 million in seed funding led by CVentures, an Egypt-based venture capital firm . A15, an early-stage VC in the MENA region that has backed subsidiaries such as Esaal, Paymob and Helios Investment Partners, 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 the general partner in A15. Antaki noticed a need for a platform that sold fashion products with fast delivery, different payment methods and a recommendation feature in Egypt. This opportunity led the CEO to use the knowledge he gained as a child born into a family with a long history in the clothing business to start TFK.
“We started the company before COVID. And at that time, 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. No one was focused on this, especially in fashion,” said Antaki.
TFK deals in a variety of products—shoes, beauty products, personal care, accessories, home fashion, etc.—that cater to different demographics. The platform helps local and international brands increase their online sales through their curated marketplace that provides an all-in-one customer experience: a place where shoppers can find all their fashion needs and exchange products when needed .
There are over 200 brands on the TFK platform, growing 10-15% month over month. It has more than 150,000 customers; every month, about 40% of its sales come from returning customers.
The platform not only includes the products of all these brands for customers’ viewing and purchasing pleasure, but also provides support services for them. TFK offers a virtual fitting room that helps brands get to know their customers’ sizes and recommend clothing to customers for different occasions. Also, its “360-degree value proposition” for brands includes providing a one-stop solution covering operations, co-marketing and digital content creation services.
“At the beginning of this year, we discovered that one of the most important areas we felt we needed to focus on was branding. There are brands of good quality and price that do not have the knowledge to sell online. They need a lot of support in operations, fulfillment, warehousing and production and digital photography,” said the CEO. “So in addition to selling their products, we help them with various aspects that they will then be able to sell well online, whether it’s in support of the operation or on the marketing side. And for us, it’s not just about reselling their products, but coming in as their digital partners.”
The fashion e-commerce platform makes revenue through a traditional model where it counts a markup for products and a consignment model where it receives a commission. Supporting revenue streams come from additional services it provides to brands, such as photography and marketing. The company’s total sales volume increased 3 times 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 this figure and reach about 1.2 trillion dollars in three years. According to Statista, the total addressable market in Egypt is about $4.2 billion. With no clear market leader in Egypt’s fashion e-commerce space, Antaki says his company is determined to become one and stay ahead of other players because of its brand advantage.
“We have two main differentiators. One is the all-round experience. The second is not just to be a reseller, but to partner with brands and help them become sustainable and even grow their business through our platform and other services that we can offer,” he said.
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 Chourbagi.
According to the company’s statement, TFK will use the investment to accelerate its growth, build scalable technology and grow its team, whose female employees make up 43% of its entire workforce and 50% of its managers. the company. “We aim to meet talent needs, build our technology, optimize our operations and end customer experience. So basically, using the funds in technology, talent and operations,” the CEO added.
