Saudi Arabia-based marketing platform, Quantum, has raised $2.6 million in a Seed round led by Tech Invest Com and Vision Ventures with participation from 500 Startups and some angel investors.

Founded in 2018 by Omar Malaikah, Quantum offers online marketing tools to launch and grow brands. Today, the startup describes itself as a data-powered marketplace for marketers to acquire customers through advertising services ranging from targeted sampling to e-commerce media buying.

The newly raised capital will be used to improve its technology, grow its team and expand to the UAE and Egypt.

“We are privileged to have leading investors who understand our business model and back our vision,” said Malaikah. “During Covid-19 we worked closely with our clients and helped them continue their marketing activities by taking advantage of Quantum’s technology to further growth their business.”

Quantum currently operates across 12 cities in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait where it offers its brands product matching with target audiences, managing logistics of shipping and distribution and offering real time reports and insights. It has delivered six million targeted samples for brands including Nestle, Mars and PEPSICO. The startup claims its tools help brands reach up to a 40 per cent increase on return on investment.

“By synergising marketing, supply chain and data analytics, our algorithm optimises brands’ reach to deliver the right marketing material to their target audience across the Mena region. We have recently signed exclusive deals with leading e-commerce companies in the region and have a healthy pipeline of clients and partners,” said Tameem Alghunaim, partner and chief operating officer at Quantum.

The growth of e-commerce over this past year has resulted in a rise in marketing spend in the region, according to Quantum, $22 billion was spent on marketing in Mena.

Hashim AlAwadi, CEO of Tech Invest Com said: “Quantum’s technology segments and builds accurate consumer profiles based on demographics, interests, shopping habits, etc. This enables targeted sampling based on brand’s consumer persona over several distribution channels in a single campaign. Real time performance data, leading to increased efficiencies and ROI, brings value to brand owners and e-commerce partners, as well as end consumers.”

Kais Al Essa, founding partner and CEO of Vision Ventures said: “Quantum bridges a critical gap in the region by digitising the offline marketing activities with real time metrics and numbers. It has never been done before. The value Quantum brings to brands is second to none and we anticipate its abilities will only increase with the use of big data and analytics downs the road.”