Beauty and wellness startup Amaani raises $5 Mn led by BECO Capital

Amaani, the Dubai-founded beauty and wellness company behind the Arab-inspired brand AÏZA, has raised $5 million in a Series A round led by BECO Capital, with participation from Homegrown Ventures and Peak XV’s Surge. The financing takes Amaani’s total funding to $8 million following a $3 million seed round from Peak XV’s Surge last year. The fresh capital will be used to scale AÏZA across the GCC, with Saudi Arabia identified as the immediate priority.

"Clean at Sephora" is cited as the formulation benchmark for AÏZA products, which the company describes as vegan, cruelty-free and alcohol-free — positioning the brand for both regional retail expansion and international standards in beauty formulation.

Context and product positioning

Founded in Dubai in 2023 by Shubham Poddar, AÏZA launched in December 2024 and builds its product narrative on ingredients and beauty practices from the Arab world. The brand uses regionally resonant ingredients such as dates, black seed, frankincense, rose and bakhoor, while formulations are developed across laboratories in Korea, Japan and Italy. The company lists several hero SKUs that anchor the brand offering:

• Sukkar Rush lip treatment
• Scent Storm hair mist
• Date Setter brow & lash serum

Amaani says AÏZA expanded from an online-first business into retail during the first half of 2026, and that net revenue grew more than 9X year-on-year in that period. The brand is currently available via its own website, through luxury marketplace Ounass and at Ulta Beauty in the UAE, where it ranks among the top 10 brands out of more than 300 global and regional competitors on the Ulta platform in that market.

Retail rollout and competition

With the new funding, Amaani plans an accelerated retail rollout across the GCC. The company has set a near-term target to launch AÏZA in Ulta Beauty stores in Jeddah and Riyadh by the end of September, and to introduce the brand in Kuwait and Qatar in Q4. These launches place AÏZA in direct competition with established regional and global lifestyle and beauty brands such as Huda Beauty and Kayali.

Investors in the Series A include BECO Capital, Homegrown Ventures and Peak XV’s Surge. BECO Capital’s lead role signals continued investor interest in regionally rooted consumer brands that combine local storytelling with international-grade formulation and supply chains.

Outlook

With $5 million in fresh capital and a total of $8 million raised to date, Amaani is now focused on converting retail distribution into sustained category share across the Gulf. The company’s dual emphasis on Arab-sourced ingredients and internationally developed formulations aims to serve both GCC consumers seeking culturally resonant beauty products and regional retailers seeking differentiated brands. Key near-term milestones to watch are the Ulta Beauty store openings in Saudi Arabia and the planned Kuwait and Qatar launches in Q4, which will test AÏZA’s resonance beyond the UAE market.