We are co-leading Floward’s $156 million USD (585 million SAR) Pre-IPO Series C round. With presence across the GCC, Jordan, Egypt, and the UK, Floward is the region’s largest flowers and gifts eCommerce solution, delivering a unique gifting experience to their customers.
When we first invested in Floward in 2021, we were betting on two things: the fundamental gifting culture in the MENA region, and the company’s unique capability and position to capitalize on it. Since then, we’ve witnessed Floward’s platform grow 7x to become the single largest importer of flowers in this $3bn market, delivering more than 50 million flower stems in 2022.
With a product category that includes gifts from 400+ brands and partners across 9 countries, Floward has become the go-to gifting destination for their customers. Their recent acquisition of Mubkhar, a widely loved fragrance brand, is the first step in the company’s commitment to deepen their roots in the wider $10bn gifting market.
Beyond convenience and fast delivery, Floward has created a unique gifting experience for their customers, from the gifter’s selection from a vast and curated array of products, to the giftee’s anticipation when they see a notification that a loving someone has sent them a gift, to the awaited unboxing. This is only possible with the operational excellence and unparalleled technological and logistical infrastructure that Abdulaziz Alloughani and Mohammed Alarafi, co-founders of Floward, and their team have built. They are always coming up with new ideas to enhance the gifting experience and developing expertise along every part of the chain. As we’ve heard many times from many people on the Floward team, they are “in the business of delivering emotions.”
We are proud to lead the company’s Pre-IPO Series C round, along with Aljazira Capital and Rainwater Partners, as the company further fuels its M&A strategy to expand into other gifting verticals and prepares for a public listing, driven by the newly established IPO Board Committee. We’re excited to double down on Abdulaziz, Mohammed, and team as they solidify their leading position as the region’s gifting champion, and to support them in delivering the “Gift of Giving” as a public company.