Saudi Men’s Fashion Platform Thobi Raises Over $650,000

Riyadh-based e-commerce platform ‘Thobi’ has just raised over USD 650,000 in a seed round spearheaded by Abunayyan Holding’s VC arm ABN Ventures. The platform – founded by Khalid Abanami and Abdulmajeed Alresaini in 2018 – sells custom-made thobes (also known as thawb, an ankle-length garment worn by men across the Arab world) and has garnered a reputation for itself for being the first digital “thobe tailor” as the platform allows for users to purchase their designs via a mobile app, that leverages the startup’s unique proprietary technology of measuring themselves from the convenience of their homes. 

“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,” says Abanami. “Through our application, we offer customers an easy and instant purchasing experience. They can select and customise their thobe of choice, and instantly measure themselves with a few clicks; all from the comfort of their own home.” 

According to Alresaini, Thobi’s – rather revolutionary – proprietary measurement technology came off the back of over three years of research and development, “leveraging advanced image processing and artificial intelligence methods to gain a high degree of measurement accuracy. The technology is a key driver for our main goal, which is to provide a convenient and instant purchasing experience for tailored robes.” 

‘Thobi’ has already delivered more than 1000 custom-made thobes across the KSA in the first half of this year. 

The app is currently available on the App Store and Google Play.