Marn, a Saudi Arabia-based start-up operating in the labour market, has closed a funding deal with a group of home grown venture capitals and investors, its chief executive said.
The investment is to be used for upgrading the start-up’s technology platform, hiring employees and boosting marketing activities.
“We have just closed our first investment round – seed funding,” Mohammed Al-Sabeeh, founder and chief executive officer of Marn, told Arabian Business.
“Riyadh Angel Investors (RAI), Sukna Ventures, Vision Ventures and several other angel investors have participated in this round,” Al-Sabeeh revealed.
Al-Sabeeh, however, declined to disclose the amount raised by the start-up, but added that “it runs into millions of riyals”.
Arabian Business reported last week that Riyadh Angel Investors were in late stage talks with two start-ups in Saudi Arabia for finalising investment deals.
Marn runs an end-to-end staffing platform that matches businesses with committed Saudi youth for low and semi-skilled jobs, using an advanced algorithm to contract labour on an hourly basis.
Al-Sabeeh also ruled out any immediate expansion plans for Marn outside Saudi Arabia.
“Our focus now is Saudi Arabia, where the government has estimated about 1.5 million hourly worker requirements by 2030. This is a very large number and it will take time to be actualized,” the Marn founder said.
Mohammed Al-Sabeeh, founder and chief executive officer of Marn Platform
Set up in 2018, Marn’s business model envisages the platform providing screened Saudi youth to work for businesses in peak hours and time of need on a commission model.
“Marn is a certified service provider that enables business owners to manage their needs of human resources more effectively, that in turn contributes to a rapid response to market requirements at a lower operational cost,” Al-Sabeeh said.
The Marn founder said the start-up was helping businesses to reduce costs by increasing utilisation and generating more sales by increasing their capacity.
“The need for such services is huge, yet it [the business model] is new to Saudi Arabia on all fronts – whether business needs and processes, changes in regulation and supply side preferences,” he said.
Al-Sabeeh said the start-up also provided the opportunity for aspiring young men and women of the kingdom to gain work experience across fields.
Marn runs an end-to-end staffing platform that matches businesses with committed Saudi youth for low and semi-skilled jobs
“Sectors such as retail, food and beverage, event management and similar businesses face fluctuation in demand for labour due to seasonality. Our platform helps them to fix the supply of manpower to meet this fluctuated demand,” he said.
Al-Sabeh said Marn Platform already covers more than 70 percent of the needs in the Saudi market, mostly concentrated in Riyadh, western and eastern regions of the country.
“We have applicants from across the country and we can definitely serve our customers in that area, if there is need.
“Flexible and hourly work concept is new in the country and we expect to become mainstream soon, especially with the support from ministries of labour and tourism,” Al-Sabeeh said.
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