Saudi Arabia-based used-electronics platform Soum has raised $18 million in a Series A funding round, the company announced in a LinkedIn post on Thursday.
Jahez International Company, a Saudi Arabian food delivery platform, led the funding round while Isometry Capital participated along with existing investors Khwarizmi Ventures, AlRajhi United, Outliers Venture Capital, and others.
Soum plans to use the new capital to fund its expansion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and to capture market segments beyond used electronics.
Founded in 2021, by Fahad Al Hassan, Fahad Albassam, and Bader Almubarak, Soum has 4 million users in more than 150 cities in the MENA region.
The company connects customers with individual and small business sellers, with access to over 14,000 listings.
Soum raised $4 million in a seed funding round led by Outliers Venture Capital and Mazen Aljubeir in 2022. Khwarizmi Ventures, Ammar AlKhudairy, and multiple angel investors participated in the funding round.
The Middle East’s VC ecosystem is one of the world’s most nascent but has shown significant growth in recent years.
The MENA region raised over $3 billion in 2022 to make it the only sub-region to surpass its 2023 funding level, according to Magnitt’s latest emerging venture markets report. This was driven by a 72% jump in funding for Saudi Arabian startups, while Egypt led the most number of deals with 160 transactions.