Iraq-based startup Orisdi raises six-figure Bridge funding round
Orisdi, an E-commerce startup based in Iraq, has raised a six-figure bridge round, led by Innovest Middle East and a group of angel investors, including Amar Shubar, a partner at Management Partners Consulting, and Omar Al-Handal, the Managing director of Al Handal International Group.
Discover all Iraq-based E-commerce startups on MAGNiTT
Founded in February 2019 by Ahmed Al Kiremli, Hussain Ali and Azer Al Akaish, Orsidi focuses on providing customers with a wide range of products with a unique customer experience. The three co-founders bootstrapped the E-commerce startup that now has over 30,000 product SKUs. Orisdi states that the compound monthly growth rate since launching has been 23%, with a plan to grow an additional 15% month over month.
The founders saw a gap in the market for a trusted local E-commerce platform site, due to the risk involved in products sold online via social media platforms.
As the E-commerce industry is still relatively new in Iraq, Orisdi focuses on being a customer-centric company and extending its customer lifetime value. It aims to offer great customer experience by providing various benefits such as a 48 hours return and exchange policy with no shipping fee, closing the gap of the customers who lack trust in online shopping in Iraq.
Bassam Falah, Founder and Managing Partner of Innovest Middle East VC said, “Innovest has been one of the first regional VCs to enter the Iraqi market, and despite all challenges, our long-term outlook remains optimistic about the potentials and business opportunities in Iraq. Our recent investment in Orisdi is yet another testament to our continued belief in Iraq’s startup ecosystem and its young and promising talents.”
Amar Shubar, Partner of Management Partners Consulting commented, “At Management Partners, we are seeing a strong double-digit growth over the next years in the E-commerce market in Iraq, which is still at an early stage compared to the rest of the region. Besides convenience and wider product range access, Iraqi consumers are looking for price-competitive offers - even more now due to the recent devaluation of the Iraqi dinar.
"Classical shop retail in Iraq suffers from high distribution inefficiency and sub-scale economics, which lead to 20-30% higher retail prices compared to the UAE. Orisdi’s e-commerce model and innovative supply chain approach address the current inefficiencies in the Iraqi retail market as well the consumers’ needs for price-competitive offers, a wider product range, and increased convenience."
Omar Al-Handal, Managing Director of Al Handal International Group said, "For the past two years, Al-Handal International Group has been closely monitoring the exponential growth in the Iraqi online market, specifically E-commerce, which demonstrated promising results for the future. After conducting various business studies between different E-commerce businesses, we are confident that Orisdi would be the perfect fit for us, as they are held to be leaders in the Iraqi online market’’.
Kerem Danish, COO of Mr Usta added, “While there are many things to unlock in the country, Ahmed and the team demonstrated that if a bold but savvy approach is taken now, Orisdi could really disrupt the traditional commerce market in Iraq and offer great value to its consumers, as well as to its investors’’.
Ahmed Al Kiremli, Co-Founder & CEO of Orisdi commented on the new round, “Orisdi’s vision is to be the Amazon of Iraq, and what will enable us to achieve this big vision is our customer obsession approach, the brand, product range, our cutting edge marketing techniques and the efficiency of our processes. Our top priority is putting customer needs and convenience at the center of everything we do across all departments by providing a great customer experience as a customer-centric company’’.
Don't miss out on any breaking funding announcements from across the region by signing up for our funding alerts!