Source: Forbes Middle East
Saudi Arabia’s trend-led fashion platform Aya has raised $7 million (SAR 26 million) in a Series A round led by Raed Ventures, with backing from Nuwa Capital, Sanabil Investments (a wholly owned company of the Public Investment Fund), Khwarizmi Ventures, and other venture capital firms and angel investors, the company exclusively told Forbes Middle East.
The new funding brings Aya’s total funding to date to $9.8 million.
Leveraging the Abaya market
Founded in 2024 by the 30 Under 30 listees Munira Alkadi and Abdulrahman Alammar, Aya started with Abayas, a $3 billion category in the Gulf region.
The platform attracted over 500,000 monthly active users across Saudi Arabia and the GCC and grew ninefold over 12 months to March 2026, compared to the preceding 12-month period.
The company tests over 700 designs monthly, validates demand within hours, and routes production across a distributed network of manufacturers.
“We spot trends in minutes, launch them the same day, and quickly validate what converts,” said Munira Alkadi, Co-Founder and CEO of Aya. “We proved this in Abayas, and we’re now scaling the same system across new fashion categories in the GCC.”
Fueling expansion
The new funding will help Aya expand into new categories, onboard key team members, expand its supplier network, and continue building its operating system.
Aya closed a $1.6 million (SAR 6 million) seed funding round in March 2025, led by Khwarizmi Ventures, with significant contributions from Turki Alrajhi, RAED Ventures, Joa Capital, and FENA Holdings.
According to our analysis, Saudi startups raised $122 million in funding across 25 deals during the first quarter of 2026. Fintech remained the most attractive sector, with the five most-funded startups in Q1—all within fintech—raising a combined $86.3 million, accounting for over 70% of the total capital raised during the period.
