Egypt’s First Online Platform for Rental Couture La Reina Raises $1 million in Seed Funding

Egypt’s first online platform for rental couture La Reina announced it  has raised $1 million in a SEED funding round powered by Egypt’s  largest venture capital fund, Algebra Ventures.

La Reina was founded by Ghada El-Tanawy and Amr Diab in 2016 and it allows women to rent their evening and bridal gowns to each other. For two years, the online platform has been making waves in the local market with hundreds of new evening dresses and bridal gowns being added to their curated, expanding collection every month.

According to Magniit, La Reina caters to women standing on either side of a demand and supply equation – with designer dresses as their meeting point. The company’s database is currently full of millennials who appreciate fashion, and who are economically-savvy. To date, the platform has garnered more than EGP 3.5 million for dress owners.

Speaking on the plans of the platform, co-founder, Ghada El-Tanawy said, “Our number one priority is to take our collection from hundreds to thousands. We aim to grow our current closet in order to reach 5000 items by next January.

“ This would not only mean a revenue worth of EGP 8 million for the dress owners, but also a humble boost for the local economy and a starting point for a transformative business model,” she added.

The company also plans to use the acquired investment to expand its team, ‘We are certainly focusing on the team,’ says Amr Diab, La Reina’s co-founder, ‘At La Reina, we realize that people are the start and end point. We are determined to find the best talent in the local market. Our team has tripled in the past two months, and we’re still looking for more spectacular minds,’

While full of compliments for the two founders, Algebra Ventures’ Managing Partner, Ziad Mokhtar, said “Ghada and Amr are two smart, resourceful, and passionate founders with a clear vision of what they want to build.

“La Reina is taking the first big step in transforming the way Egyptians consume fashion. Startups that go after sizable multi-billion dollar industries, like fashion, attract Algebra’s attention. La Reina is leveraging shifts in consumer behavior driven by technology, and that excites us, he added.

According to reports, La Reina has caught the attention of US-based global venture capital fund, 500 Startups.

“We have been watching the La Reina team since the beginning and were impressed with their innovative approach to solving a huge regional pain point. Not only have we seen similar ideas succeed in the US where the pain point is arguably lower than a place like Egypt (where every week seems to have a formal event with strong social pressures requiring women to dress-to-impress), we were delighted to see how La Reina adapted their strategy and business model around the local nuances and needs on both sides of the marketplace.’ said 500 Startups’ Partner, Sharif El-Badawi.