Golden Scent, one of the leading Saudi beauty ecommerce platforms, plans on further growing the business after receiving a Series A funding round last December.

The investment was backed by top-tier vehicles such as Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures, Equitrust, the investment arm of Choueiri group, Wamda Capital, and Raed Ventures, the investment arm of Almajdoui Holding.

The startup was first launched in Saudi Arabia in 2014, offering easy access to premium perfume and beauty products.With around one million visitors every month, Golden Scent has powered its way to a leadership position in Saudi Arabia’s online shopping space.

“GCC’s beauty market reached $9.3 billion in 2016, which is an increase of 10 percent over 2015; and a strong growth is expected over the next four years, as consumers look to collectively spend $13.6 billion on their personal well-being in 2020. GCC women, however,

spend six times more than French women on cosmetics per year and four times more than German women; given that the German market is Europe’s biggest cosmetics market,” explained Malik Shehab, cofounder of Golden Scent.

According to a research conducted by Euromonitor International, the Middle East and Africa (MEA) will be the fastest-growing region in beauty and personal care products. The MEA’s $25.4 billion market will grow by over six percent a year over the next five years, outperforming global markets where the sector is expected to grow three percent a year. Markets in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which together account for a quarter of the MEA’s market, will grow by 12 percent and 5.8 percent respectively. Additionally, Saudi Arabia dominates the overall sales market with a national spend of $5.3 billion

Malik added: “Our initiative was to build an online beauty boutique and thereby make beauty products accessible to all individuals in the Kingdom, irrespectively of their location and mobility.”

The company’s expansion plans see it reaching out to other brands that want access to a loyal audience within Saudi Arabia. It has also successfully engaged with audiences primed for ecommerce, such as members who reside outside the Kingdom’s main cities and are restricted in their ability to physically shop at bricks and mortar outlets.

“Our business success stems from finding a solution to the shopping and self-expression needs of Saudis. Our growth has since rested on creating trust and engagement and delivering an excellent customer experience. I’m very proud to say that we’ve already broke even and achieved a double digital million dollar in revenue. Therefore, we’re now ready to take other local and international brands and introduce them to our audience to catalyse new business opportunities and give our customers even more choice. Towards this end, we also launched a new mobile app to further expand our reach and make the Golden Scent shopping experience even more accessible,” concluded Ronny Froehlich, Golden Scent cofounder.