Riyadh-Based Maison Safqa Raises US$620,000 In A Pre-Seed Funding Round

Riyadh-based flash-sale platform Maison Safqa has raised US$620,000 in a pre-seed funding round with participation from the American venture capital firm, 500 Global, through the Sanabil MENA 500 Accelerator Fund, alongside Saudi and international business angels.

Founded by Lea Mehaweg, Estelle Nasr, and Georgia Mehaweg in 2024, Maison Safqa operates a technology-enabled platform that enables premium and luxury brands to manage excess inventory while maintaining control over pricing, distribution, and brand positioning. Through its platform, Maison Safqa connects consumers with limited-time offers across fashion, beauty, and lifestyle categories, while allowing brands to choose between regular flash sales and invitation-only campaigns. 

While Maison Safqa was established in the UAE, it relocated its headquarters to Saudi Arabia in 2025. Since its launch, the company has onboarded more than 50 premium fashion and lifestyle brands, including Aigner, Lanvin, Liu Jo, Chantelle, Flabelus, and Qormuz. In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Lea, co-founder and CEO of Maison Safqa, explained the dual value proposition underpinning the platform. “Our mission is to help brands and boutiques monetize excess inventory in a controlled and brand-safe way, without diluting their image or disrupting their full-price channels,” she said. “At the same time, we give customers access to high-end products at more attractive prices, while introducing brands to new and high-potential audiences in the region.”

That approach has shaped how the company secured investors for its pre-seed round, which included retail and technology entrepreneurs and executives. “Some of our early investors are actually founders of similar flash-sale businesses in Europe, companies that were ultimately acquired by Veepee, one of the French unicorns,” Lea shared. “They’ve seen firsthand how powerful and scalable this model can be when executed well. For them, Maison Safqa is a chance to back a proven concept, but in a region like Saudi Arabia, where the off-price market is still significantly underpenetrated and, in many ways, outdated.”

That opportunity has also been recognized by investors on the ground in the Kingdom. "We’ve brought in a strong base of Saudi and Saudi-based investors who are closely connected to the retail, fashion, logistics, and legal ecosystems,” Lea said. “They’re seeing, in real time, how fast the Kingdom is evolving, whether it’s the growth of e-commerce, the rise of local fashion consumption or brand expansion in KSA, or broader societal shifts. That gives them a very tangible conviction that the market is ready for a more structured and premium approach to off-price. Being part of the Sanabil MENA 500 Accelerator Fund has also played a key role. Beyond capital, it gave us strong exposure, access to top-tier mentors, and a very disciplined approach to venture building, which helped reinforce investor confidence early on.”

Armed with the new funds, Maison Safqa is now targeting more than $2.5 million in cumulative sales over the next 18 months, while expanding its portfolio to over 100 brands. It is also planning offline sales events in Riyadh and Jeddah, alongside continued investment in technology, including customer personalization tools and automated onboarding systems for sellers. And at the core of these plans is a deliberate strategic approach shaped by Lea and her co-founders, who have drawn on their experiences working across France, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE to build a business model shaped by cross-market experience, but designed for local relevance.

“The key is that we’ve been extremely intentional about positioning,” Lea explained. “We’re not just replicating a flash-sale model—we’re localizing it for Saudi Arabia and its consumers. That means careful selection of brands, relevant communication and marketing, tailored customer support and high operational flexibility to the different capabilities of our brand partners - be it a large brand distributor or a rising Saudi fashion brand. When it comes to tech, we’re aiming to accelerate our development to be able to achieve in much less time what took years to accomplish for the flash sales giants abroad. We’re extremely lucky to have with us the very first CTO of Veepee to support our tech team in laying down our roadmap and executing it step-by-step, while leveraging new tools like artificial intelligence (AI).” 

Maison Safqa’s growth plans are set to take shape amid ongoing regional tensions and an increasingly uncertain global environment; for Lea, however, this is a context the company has built for from the outset. “Geopolitical volatility is definitely an added layer of complexity, especially for a young company like ours operating a B2C, logistics-complex, and globally connected model,” she said. “But from the beginning, we’ve been very conscious of building something that can adapt to that kind of environment. The first lever for us is localization. We are actively looking to increase the share of local and regional brand and retailer partnerships. Not only does this reduce exposure to international logistics disruptions, but it also presents Maison Safqa as a more efficient and reliable channel to offload excess inventory within the region. In many cases, it actually becomes a more sustainable solution for them operationally and financially.”

Lea also noted that beyond supply-side adjustments, Maison Safqa is set to see changes play out in consumer behavior as well. “On the demand side, periods of uncertainty tend to change how consumers spend—but they don’t stop spending altogether,” Lea pointed out. “If anything, they become more value-conscious. That’s where our positioning becomes even more relevant: offering premium and luxury products at more accessible price points, without compromising on authenticity or quality. In that sense, off-price can actually perform relatively well in more constrained environments. Hence the current context has made us more disciplined rather than more cautious. We’re prioritizing strong, long-term brand partnerships, focusing on operational reliability, and scaling in a way that remains sustainable even if external conditions fluctuate.”

When asked what advice she’d offer to her fellow entrepreneurs in the region, Lea pointed to a number of considerations drawn from her and her team’s experience at Maison Safqa. “There are a few hard-earned lessons we’ve learned that are particularly relevant for anyone building in retail in the MENA region,” Lea said. “First, on brand acquisition—this takes more time than most people expect. The retail landscape here is relationship-driven, and many brands are still cautious about new distribution models, especially off-price. It often requires multiple layers of approval, education around your business model, and, most importantly, trust-building. You really have to invest in long-term relationships rather than expect quick wins. Second, on marketing—customer acquisition has become significantly more expensive, and what works in one market doesn’t necessarily translate to another. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, for example, are very different in terms of culture, communication style, and even social platform usage. You need to localize everything—from campaigns to tone of voice to timing around key moments like Ramadan or national events—otherwise performance drops quickly altogether with brand credibility.”