Saudi’s Thobi raises over $650,000 to sell custom-made thobes (clothing for men) online

Riyadh-based ecommerce platform Thobi has raised over $650,000 (SAR 2.5 million) in a seed round led by Abunayyan Holding’s VC arm ABN Ventures.

Abunayyan Holding owns and runs different businesses (mainly in power and water sector) across the Middle East and has been very active lately (through ABN Ventures) in the startup ecosystem with 23 investments so far.

Founded by Khalid Abanami & Abdulmajeed Alresaini, Thobi sells custom-made thobes (traditional ankle-length, long-sleeved, gownlike garment – usually in white or off white color – worn by men across the Arab world) online. Launched in 2018, the Saudi startup claims to be the first “smart thobe tailer”, enabling customers to order custom-made thobe using Thobi’s mobile app.

Khalid Abanami, the co-founder and CEO of Thobi, said, “With consumers increasingly in need of a value proposition driven by convenience, especially in a post-COVID-19 world, we at Thobi sought to develop a unique thobe tailoring business model with technology at its core. Through our application, we offer customers an easy and instant purchasing experience. They can select and customize their thobe of choice, and instantly measure themselves with a few clicks; all from the comfort of their own home.”

The customers have the option to choose from a variety of fabrics, colors, and style types while making their purchase.

Thobi in a statement said that its proprietary technology allows its customer to extract their thobe measurements through their mobile phone in a quick and easy manner.

Abdulmajeed Alresaini, the co-founder and COO, of Thobi, said, “Our proprietary technology is a result of more than three years of research and development, leveraging advanced image processing and artificial intelligence methods to gain a high degree of measurement accuracy.

“It enables our customers to take their own measurements anytime and anywhere without the need to go to a tailor or have a tailor visit them. The technology is a key driver for our main goal, which is to provide a convenient and instant purchasing experience for tailored thobes,” he added.

The startup claims to have delivered over 1,000 bespoke thobes across 47 cities, towns, and villages in the Kingdom during the first half of 2020.

Abdullah Almedbel, the Head of Investment at ABN Ventures, said, “Thobi, with its technology, will disrupt the traditional thobe tailoring business in the region. We see a huge opportunity for scale and growth in this segment.”