UAE-based start-up Covetor has announced its commitment to invest $50 million in facilitating the entry of emerging brands into the market over the next five years.
Launched in June, consumer-business-focused Covetor is set to bring such brands to the Middle East, India and Russia, starting with Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
In contrast to traditional investments in consumer retail, Covetor’s strategy centres around providing a full investment and services offering to ensure brands are able to scale up successfully in these markets. Funds will be allocated to Covetor’s portfolio brands in the form of equity investment and working capital to aid their expansion.
“With traditional investment models, capital is injected into a business and a brand is then under pressure to create its own growth. That’s where Covetor is different, we act as the brand in the region, and we provide all of the tools needed for brands to scale up in a sustainable way,” said David Bisset, managing partner, Covetor.
Unlike a traditional distributor with hundreds of brands, the start-up wants to craft a strategic portfolio of brands.
Speaking with Arabian Business in June, Bisset said: “Covetor looks at companies that have less than 100 employees and make less than $100m in annual revenues but are just everywhere on social media and in consumers’ minds.”
“Typically, they have to be disruptive and innovative and specialists without a huge range of products. They need to have a story and engagement with a product that changes the way you consume,” he added.
Greg Hucker, chief technology officer and David Bisset, managing partner.
The company will launch its first selection of brands in Q4 2021 with the objective of bringing to market “the brands that consumers want but cannot otherwise access today”.
Coinciding with the commitment, Covetor has opened its physical office location, located within The Opus, designed by renowned architect, Zaha Hadid, in Dubai’s Business Bay.
Covetor is operated under Irth, a Dubai-based opportunistic private investment firm founded by Mohammad and Saif Al Shamsi and part of the Al Shamsi Family Investment Company.
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