KSA-Based Mila Celebrations, Rodyan Group Team Up In US$5 Million Strategic Partnership To Digitize Event Planning

KSA-based event management app Mila Celebrations has signed a US$5 million strategic partnership with Saudi event management company Rodyan Group.  

The tie-up is set to enable Mila Celebrations to accelerate the growth of its event aggregation platform, expand its user network, enhance customer experience, and advance the digitization of Saudi Arabia’s event industry.   

Founded by Mohammed Ghourbal, Bedour Al-Malik, Mohammed Amasha, and Mohammed Sakr in Riyadh in 2024, Mila Celebrations offers an online marketplace that allows users to connect with vendors to source anything they might need to host a celebration or gathering.  

In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Ghourbal, co-founder and CEO of Mila Celebrations, shared that the company’s journey began with a deeply personal frustration.  

“In 2022, my wife and I welcomed our first daughter,” Ghourbal recalled. “While preparing for her celebration, one of our suppliers suddenly decided not to show up and deliver the rented items I was already at the hospital, busy coordinating with two other suppliers, completely stuck and out of options—with only a two-hour window left to find a replacement. In that moment, I called my co-founder, Bedour, who quite literally saved the day. But after everything had settled, we sat together and asked ourselves a simple question: why isn’t there a single platform or app that connects people with all their celebration and gathering needs in one seamless purchase cycle, while ensuring reliability and credibility if anything goes wrong? That was the moment our idea was born.” 

But it didn’t take long for Ghourbal to realize that his experience reflected a much larger market gap. “We saw a significant need in the market for a digital solution that makes people’s lives easier and more enjoyable,” Ghourbal said. “Celebrations and social gatherings are meant to be fun; yet, the preparation process is often stressful. Today, customers struggle with limited options, a lack of transparency, difficulty comparing services, and challenges involving family or relatives in the decision-making process. The journey is fragmented: countless phone calls, follow-ups, payment hassles through bank transfers or cash, and frequent concerns about credibility and trust. The opportunity is clear: digitizing the entire experience. Whether for an individual or a corporate, planning an event should be seamless, reliable, and enjoyable. A smart platform should handle everything, so that the customer can focus on the joy of the occasion.” 

Ghourbal and Al-Malik then roped in Amasha and Sakr to build what ended up becoming Mila Celebrations. “We launched our service by October 2024, and today, we operate in Riyadh for B2C, and Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam for B2B,” Ghourbal said. “Our core mission is simple: to make celebrating and gathering in people’s lives easier, seamless, transparent, and stress-free.”  

The company’s choice to team up with Rodyan—an enteprise specializing in large-scale event management, exhibitions, conferences, media production, and full-service event operations—is thus another step towards realizing that aim. “This partnership is more than just numbers,” Ghourbal explained. “Combining expertise in large-scale event management and operations with a smart, tech-driven entrepreneurial team gives us unparalleled knowledge, reach, and market awareness. Mila Celebrations and Rodyan share the ambition to unify the customer journey into one platform, enabling them to scale, grow, and thrive faster.” 

While Mila Celebrations currently focuses on the Saudi market, Ghourbal admitted that it is set to grow beyond the Kingdom’s borders soon. “Today, Mila Celebrations operates in Saudi Arabia, but we’ve studied other potential markets across the GCC and the Middle East,” he shared. “After speaking with hundreds of customers and asking if they would benefit from this solution, the response was overwhelmingly positive. We see strong potential in these markets, and regional expansion is already on Mila Celebrations’ radar.” 

As Mila Celebrations thus gets set for its next phase of growth, Ghourbal shared what he believes other entrepreneurs should keep in mind if they wish to secure similar success stories for their enterprises  “Focus on the problem, not just the solution,” he advised. “Be ambitious with your vision and move quickly—speed is key to understanding the impact of your efforts. Embrace the mindset of ‘try fast, fail fast.’ Prioritize strategic partnerships that enable scalability and access to your audience—today, success relies more on the right partnerships than anything else.” 

Pictured in the lead image is Mila Celebrations co-founder and CEO Mohammed Ghourbal (L), and Rodyan CEO Mohammed Al-Salman (R). Image courtesy Mila Celebrations.