Amaani Secures US$5M Series A to Fuel AÏZA's GCC Retail Expansion

Shubham Poddar, Amaani Founder & CEO

Dubai-based Amaani, the parent company of Middle Eastern beauty brand AÏZA, secured $5 million in a Series A funding round led by BECO Capital.

The round, which saw participation from Homegrown Ventures and Peak XV’s Surge, brings the company's total capital raised to $8 million.

The capital injection is designated for regional retail expansion, prioritizing imminent Saudi Arabian launches at Ulta Beauty locations in Jeddah and Riyadh, followed by entries into Kuwait and Qatar in Q4 2026.

Why has Amaani raised $5 million in Series A funding?

Amaani, the company behind Middle Eastern beauty brand AÏZA, has raised $5 million in Series A funding to accelerate its expansion across the GCC and build the brand beyond the region.

The round was led by BECO Capital, with participation from Homegrown Ventures and Peak XV’s Surge. The investment brings Amaani’s total funding to $8 million since its founding.

The new capital will support AÏZA’s regional expansion, with Saudi Arabia identified as the company’s priority market, alongside continued investment in product development, talent and technology infrastructure.

How has AÏZA grown since launching in 2024?

Founded in Dubai and launched in December 2024, AÏZA is building a beauty brand around ingredients, rituals and cultural references from the Arab world.

The company has recorded rapid commercial growth during its first two years. In H1 2026, AÏZA’s net revenue increased more than 9x year-on-year, as the company expanded from a digital-first model into regional retail.

The brand is now available through:

• aiza.co
• Ounass
• Ulta Beauty in the UAE

At Ulta Beauty in the UAE, AÏZA ranks among the top 10 brands across a selection of 300+ global and regional brands, according to the company.

AÏZA was also selected for BeautyMatter’s NEXT50, becoming the first and only Middle Eastern brand included in the annual list of 50 emerging beauty and wellness companies to watch.

What makes AÏZA different from traditional global beauty brands?

AÏZA positions itself around a combination of regional cultural heritage and global product development standards.

Its product range reinterprets ingredients associated with the region, including:

• Dates
• Black seed
• Frankincense
• Rose
• Bakhoor

These ingredients are incorporated into modern skincare and haircare formulations developed with laboratories in Korea, Japan and Italy.

Rather than simply adapting established international beauty concepts for Middle Eastern consumers, Amaani says it is developing products from regional ingredients, rituals and cultural references while targeting the formulation and quality standards expected of international beauty brands.

This positioning reflects a broader ambition: to build a beauty company originating in the Middle East that can expand into international markets.

How is Amaani using technology and AI to scale AÏZA?

Although AÏZA operates in a traditionally brand-led consumer category, Amaani is applying a technology-oriented operating model across the business.

The company uses technology and AI in areas including:

• Creative testing
• Customer analytics
• Performance marketing
• Operational planning

The approach is designed to allow AÏZA to test, learn and scale quickly as it enters new markets.

Founder and CEO Shubham Poddar, who previously worked at Sequoia Capital India, said the company was created around the conviction that the Middle East has become one of the world's sophisticated consumer markets for global beauty, while relatively few globally ambitious beauty brands have been built around the region's own culture.

“AÏZA was created to change that, with original products inspired by the ingredients, rituals and cultural intelligence of Arabia.”

Poddar said the new funding will allow the company to deepen its UAE presence, expand across the GCC and begin building a brand capable of reaching markets beyond the region.

Why did BECO Capital invest in AÏZA?

For BECO Capital, the investment reflects an interest in consumer brands originating in the Gulf that can potentially scale beyond the region.

Abdulaziz Shikh Al Sagha, Managing Partner at BECO Capital, said the firm had spent several years examining the beauty and wellness category in the Gulf and broader Middle East.

He highlighted AÏZA's combination of regional consumer understanding and operating discipline as a factor behind the investment.

Homegrown Ventures also pointed to the company's product development and execution.

Nader Amiri, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Homegrown Ventures, said AÏZA combines products rooted in regional ingredients and rituals with an approach designed to compete in international markets.

Where will AÏZA expand next?

Saudi Arabia will be the priority market in AÏZA's next phase of expansion.

The company is set to launch with Ulta Beauty at:

Market	Retail Location	Launch Timing
Saudi Arabia	Red Sea Mall, Jeddah	End of September 2026
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh Park, Riyadh	End of September 2026
Kuwait	To be announced	Q4 2026
Qatar	To be announced	Q4 2026

The Saudi launch will give AÏZA access to two major retail locations in Jeddah and Riyadh, before the company expands into Kuwait and Qatar during Q4 2026.

The expansion comes less than two years after AÏZA launched in December 2024, highlighting the pace at which Amaani is moving from a UAE-focused digital-first brand toward a broader GCC retail footprint.

What will Amaani use the new funding for?

The $5 million Series A will primarily support four areas as AÏZA enters its next growth phase:

1. GCC expansion — with Saudi Arabia first, followed by Kuwait and Qatar.
2. Product development — expanding AÏZA's portfolio of skincare and haircare products.
3. Talent — building the team required to support regional growth.
4. Technology infrastructure — strengthening the systems supporting analytics, marketing and operations.

With $8 million in total funding, more than 9x year-on-year net revenue growth in H1 2026, and retail expansion into three additional GCC markets planned for 2026, Amaani is positioning AÏZA for its next stage of regional scale.

The company's longer-term proposition is broader than GCC expansion: to demonstrate that a beauty brand built around Arab ingredients, rituals and cultural identity can develop products for consumers beyond the Middle East.