Riyadh-based retail technology platform Raff has closed a $1.7 million pre-seed funding round led by Vision Ventures, with participation from 500 Global, Palm VC, Oqal Group, and Salman Butt, co-founder of Salla. Founded in 2024, the B2B platform connects consumer brands directly with brick-and-mortar retailers, transforming how direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands transition into physical retail channels across the region.
Digitizing Offline Distribution for a $300 Billion Retail Sector
While digital marketplaces have simplified launching e-commerce brands across the GCC, expanding into physical retail remains a fragmented, costly, and operationally intensive process. Expanding into traditional storefronts typically requires managing individual onboarding processes, commercial terms, and logistics setups for every retail vendor.
Raff addresses these pain points by tapping into the GCC’s $300 billion annual retail market with an end-to-end technology infrastructure. The platform digitizes commercial distribution, inventory management, order fulfillment, and payment workflows. For physical retailers, Raff simplifies vendor management by automating key workflows and integrating directly with leading regional point-of-sale (POS) and accounting systems.
Rapid Growth Across Regional and International Markets
Since its launch less than 18 months ago, Raff has onboarded more than 900 consumer brands across nine countries, spanning the GCC region and the UK. The platform operates as a specialized infrastructure layer, allowing independent retailers to discover and stock emerging inventory without traditional wholesale friction.
The fresh injection of capital will accelerate Raff’s regional expansion across the GCC while funding enhancements to its technological platform and artificial intelligence capabilities.
Seasoned Leadership and Strategic Backing
Raff was co-founded by Ali Al Qudah (CEO) and Abdul Kareem Munla (CFO). Al Qudah previously established and scaled two e-commerce brands, held early roles in customer success and product-led growth at Salla, and served as Head of Growth at legal-tech firm Qanoniah. Munla brings over two decades of financial control, corporate governance, and operational transformation experience to the venture.
“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”.
Kais Al-Essa, Founding Partner and CEO of Vision Ventures, noted: “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”.
About Raff
Raff is a Riyadh-based B2B retail infrastructure platform designed to connect consumer brands with physical retailers. Named after the Arabic word for “shelf,” Raff simplifies product distribution, inventory synchronization, order management, and vendor onboarding. By providing an end-to-end management layer integrated with regional POS and accounting tools, the platform aims to make physical retail access as seamless, measurable, and scalable as e-commerce.
Source: Raff Press Release
