Taher Alblowe , a Saudi technologist and founder of Rwaj , has launched a live social shopping and auction marketplace designed for Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council. Founded in 2025, Rwaj recently closed a $1.2 million (SAR4.5 million) pre-seed round to accelerate regional growth and product development. The app combines livestream selling, timed auctions, payments held in escrow, seller verification and integrated logistics so buyers and sellers can transact without leaving the platform. “It is called Rwaj; we built it so a seller can go live, sell at a fixed price or by auction, get paid and ship without leaving the app, and a buyer can purchase or bid knowing their money is protected until the item is in their hands,” Alblowe said. What Rwaj offers Built-in trust and safety: every seller must be verified and payments are held in escrow until buyers confirm receipt. Hybrid live format: sellers can sell instantly at a fixed price while running timed live auctions in the same stream. Region-first design: Arabic-first and fully bilingual experience aimed at local buyer and seller behaviours. Alblowe framed Rwaj as more than a shopping app, describing it as “building a new generation of commerce” that marries entertainment and real-time interaction. He previously founded and served as CEO of Geeks Valley , an education and digital fabrication company that generated more than SAR23 million in cumulative revenue and worked with government entities, leading universities and international companies. He has also been recognised by Forbes Middle East. The company’s technical build extends beyond livestreaming to include the back-end systems required for secure commerce. Rwaj enforces a seller verification process and routes all transactions through an escrow mechanism so funds are only released after buyers confirm items arrive “as described.” Alblowe said that building that trust layer from day one was central to the product promise. Alblowe pointed to…