the kingdom of fashion (TFK), an Egyptian e-commerce marketplace for fashion, beauty and home accessories, announced today that it has raised $2.6 million in seed funding led by CVentures, a corporate venture capital firm based in Egypt. A15an early stage VC in the MENA region who has backed companies such as Esaal, paymob and Helios Investment Partners subsidiary TPay made a follow-up investment, according to TFK.
Fadi Antaki, co-founder and CEO of TFK, founded the company in January 2020 with Marianne Simaika and Karim Abd El Kader. They launched the e-commerce platform six months later. Antaki is also a general partner of A15. Antaki noted the need for a platform that would sell fashion products with fast delivery, different payment methods, and a recommendation feature in Egypt. This opportunity made the CEO take advantage of the knowledge he gained when he was a child born into a family with a long history in the apparel business to launch TFK.
“We established the company before COVID. And at that time, we saw a huge gap or maybe a lack of focus in a place dedicated to selling fashion products, recommendations on what to wear, fast delivery and different payment methods. There was no one focused on this, especially fashion,” Antaki said.
TFK deals with a range of products (shoes, beauty products, personal care, accessories, home fashions, etc.) that cater to different demographics. The platform helps local and international brands grow their online sales through its curated marketplace that provides an omnichannel experience for customers: a place where shoppers can find all their fashion needs and swap products when needed.
There are over 200 brands on the TFK platform, growing 10-15% month over month. It has more than 150,000 clients; each month about 40% of their sales come from returning customers.
The platform not only includes products of all these brands for customers’ viewing and shopping pleasure, but also provides them with ancillary services. TFK provides a virtual fitting room that helps brands get used to their customers’ sizes and recommend outfits for different occasions. Furthermore, its “360-degree value proposition” for brands involves offering a comprehensive solution covering operations, co-marketing, and digital content creation services.
“Earlier this year, we discovered that one of the biggest areas we thought we needed to focus on was branding. There are brands of good quality and price that do not know how to sell online. They need a lot of support in operation, fulfillment, warehousing and digital photography and production,” said the CEO. “So, in addition to selling their products, we help them with the different aspects that they could then sell well online, whether it’s supporting the operation or the marketing side. And for us, it’s not just about reselling your products, but also being your digital partner.”
The fashion e-commerce platform generates revenue through the traditional model where it accounts for a markup on products and a consignment model where it charges a commission. Supporting revenue streams come from the additional services it provides to brands, such as photography and marketing. The company’s total sales volume grew 3 times from April 2021 to April 2022, Antaki confirmed.
In 2021, the value of the global fashion e-commerce market was almost $700 billion. By the end of 2022, it is expected to exceed that figure and reach around $1.2 trillion in three years. According to Statista, the total addressable market in Egypt is approximately $4.2 billion. With no clear market leader in Egypt’s fashion e-commerce space, Antaki says his company is poised to become one and stay ahead of other players due to its brand advantage.
“We have two main differentiators. One is the omnichannel experience. The second is not just being a reseller, but being a partner to brands and helping them be sustainable and even grow their business through our platform and other services that we can provide,” he said.
Other investors in the round include Lotus Capital, Raba Capital, Sunny Side Venture Partners, Foundation Ventures, The Cairo Angels, and fashion industry veterans Paul Antaki and Nasser Chourbagi.
According to the company statement, TFK will use the investment to accelerate its growth, create scalable technology and grow its team, whose female employees represent 43% of the entire workforce and 50% of the company’s managers. “We intend to meet the needs in terms of talent, develop our technology, optimize our operation and the end customer experience. Basically, use the funds in technology, talent and operations”, added the CEO.