UAE on-demand home services start-up Rizek raises $10m to support expansion plans across Saudi Arabia and Egypt
Rizek, the UAE “super app” for on-demand home services, said yesterday it raised $10 million to scale its operations and fuel the company’s expansion across the region.
The early stage funding round, or Series A as it is known, was led by the US financial investment company Peak Investments and Abu Dhabi’s holding company ADQ. It also included a “number of family offices from the UAE and Saudi Arabia”, Rizek said, without disclosing their names.
The latest venture capital funding brings Rizek’s total financing to more than $15m.
The investment will be used to “exponentially increase the platform’s presence” by integrating new services, improve the customer experience and expand into Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the coming months, it said.
“There are many service-based economies in the region, but what we have done differently is to ensure our processes are optimised and consistently up to date,” said Abdallah Abu-Sheikh, chief executive and Rizek co-founder.
A super app is an ecosystem of many apps that are either built together or bundled through third-party integrations. They usually work with freelancers and SME service providers to improve their skills and help them acquire more opportunities.
Rizek, which was founded in 2019 and went live last year, connects users to service professionals from a range of industries. It aims to increase job opportunities for parttime workers, allowing them to earn income through the platform and taking a commission.
“Our mission is to be the one-stop shop for all services across the region, allowing both suppliers and consumers to maximise on their values and benefits,” Mr Abu-Sheikh said.
Rizek is well positioned to take advantage of growth opportunities in the e-commerce industry that have been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said.
The e-commerce market in the Middle East and North Africa region is booming owing to the high rates of smartphone usage and internet penetration. E-commerce sales are set to triple to $28.5 billion in 2022, from $8.3bn in 2017, according to research from Bain & Company and Google.
Last June, Rizek raised $3.5m in seed funding led by strategic investors including Abu Dhabi Investment Office, E-tech investments and Rozana Investments.
“It is humbling to watch what first started as an idea on paper prosper into the revolutionary service provider it is today,” said Ahmed Mazrui, co-founder of Rizek.
“This round of funding consolidates the emphasis of our platform as a product with a noteworthy impact on the e-commerce and service sector. We look forward to further expanding upon its influence and success.”
So far, the company has registered more than 800 per cent growth in revenue and a 700 per cent increase in its customer base, Rizek said without disclosing either figure.
Rizek was also the first local platform to introduce home PCR testing and to administer Covid-19 vaccines at home, the company said.