Raff closes $1.7mln pre-seed round to bridge online and offline retail across MENA

Raff, a Saudi technology platform that connects consumer brands directly with retailers, has closed a $1.7 million pre-seed funding round to accelerate its regional expansion and product development. The round was led by Vision Ventures and included participation from 500 Global, Palm VC, Oqal Group and Salman Butt, co‑founder of Salla. The startup, founded in 2024, says the investment will be used to expand across the GCC and to accelerate the platform’s AI capabilities and core product roadmap.

"We built Raff after experiencing firsthand how difficult it was for growing brands to move beyond online sales," said Ali Al Qudah, Co‑Founder and CEO of Raff. "While the barriers to launching an e‑commerce business have never been lower, reaching customers through physical retail still requires brands to navigate multiple operational and commercial hurdles. Our mission is to simplify that journey and give brands a faster and more efficient way to reach offline customers. This investment enables us to accelerate that vision, expand across the GCC, and continue building the infrastructure powering the next generation of retail."

What Raff offers

Raff positions itself as an end‑to‑end platform that digitizes distribution and retail operations. Its product suite handles distribution, commercial operations, inventory management, order fulfillment and payments, and it integrates with leading point‑of‑sale and accounting software used across the region. For brands, the platform aims to streamline onboarding and reduce the duplication of logistics and commercial relationships that typically accompany expansion into physical retail. For retailers, Raff automates workflows and simplifies management of a growing vendor network.

The company highlights the scale of the opportunity it is addressing: the GCC retail market is valued at more than $300 billion a year. Since launching less than 18 months ago, Raff has enabled more than 900 brands across nine countries, spanning the GCC and the UK, to grow their presence through physical retail channels.

Founders and investor perspective

• Founders: Ali Al Qudah and Abdul Kareem Munla. Al Qudah previously built and scaled two e‑commerce brands, joined Salla as an early employee, and later served as Head of Growth at legal‑tech startup Qanoniah. Munla brings over 20 years of experience in financial management, governance, compliance and operational efficiency.
• Lead investor: Vision Ventures, led the $1.7 million pre‑seed round. Kais Al‑Essa, Founding Partner and CEO of Vision Ventures, said: "We are excited to partner with Ali and the Raff team as they represent the caliber of high‑execution talent that we look for. We previously supported the shift from offline to online through our early investment in Salla. Today, we see an equally significant opportunity as brands look to expand from online into physical retail. Raff is solving a high‑friction challenge at the intersection of retail technology and logistics, creating a new efficiency layer for commerce across the region. We are proud to lead this round and support the team's ambitious vision."
• Other participants: 500 Global, Palm VC, Oqal Group, and Salman Butt (Co‑founder of Salla).

Outlook

Raff plans to deploy the fresh capital to accelerate product development—particularly AI capabilities that can optimize inventory and distribution—and to expand its footprint across the GCC. The company’s stated goal is to simplify and standardize the route from online presence to offline retail for brands, reducing the time and cost associated with onboarding, logistics and commercial relationships with individual retailers.