Saudi Arabia-based software startup Rekaz has secured $5 million in a seed funding round led by COTU Ventures, with participation from Impact46, Shorooq, Numrah Capital, and a group of angel investors.
The company will use the funding to scale its AI-powered platform, enhance product capabilities, and expand across the GCC and broader MENA markets.
Software for service-based businesses
Founded by Abdulrahman Al Omran and Abdulaziz Al-Khrashi in November 2023, Rekaz provides an end-to-end operating system for service-based businesses such as gyms, salons, and mobile service providers.
Its platform enables users to manage bookings, subscriptions, payments, client engagement, and online storefronts, streamlining operations by consolidating multiple tools into a single interface.
“Our mission is to do for service Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) what Shopify did for e-commerce,” said Abdulrahman Alomran, CEO and co-founder of Rekaz. “Most service businesses are still operating through scattered tools, spreadsheets, and manual work. We’re building the infrastructure they’ve been missing.”
Since launch, over 7,000 businesses have used Rekaz to process more than 1 million appointments and subscriptions.
“The service economy in MENA is one of the largest yet least digitized sectors. Rekaz is transforming that reality with a platform built for scale,” said Yousef Albabtain, partner at Shorooq.
SaaS momentum in MENA
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s startups attracted $2.3 billion (including debt) in funding in 2024, although these firms registered a 42% year-on-year decline. However, the investment deals rose by 3.5% to 610 deals in 2024, according to the Wamda annual report.
Within this, software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups showed strong traction, raising $228.6 million across 65 deals. Saudi Arabia led the sector with $177 million raised across 27 deals, followed by the UAE with $40.8 million across 14 deals.
