AÏZA by Amaani | $5M (Series A)

Founders: Shubham Poddar

Founded: 2023

HQ: Dubai

Sector: Beauty & Wellness / Consumer Brands

What they do

→ Builds AÏZA, a skincare and haircare brand inspired by Arab beauty rituals

→ Uses ingredients like dates, black seed, frankincense, rose and bakhoor, with formulations developed in labs across Korea, Japan and Italy

→ Hero products: Sukkar Rush lip treatment, Scent Storm hair mist, Date Setter brow and lash serum

→ Sold via its website, Ounass and Ulta Beauty in the UAE

The Funding

→ Raised $5M in Series A, led by BECO Capital

→ Participation from Homegrown Ventures and Peak XV's Surge

→ Follows a $3M seed from Peak XV's Surge in 2025, taking total funding to $8M

Why it matters

→ Net revenue grew 9x year-on-year in H1 2026 as AÏZA moved from online-first into retail

→ Launching at Ulta Beauty in Jeddah and Riyadh by end of September, with Kuwait and Qatar in Q4

→ Founder left Sequoia Capital India in 2023 to build it, a rare investor-to-operator jump

→ First Middle Eastern brand on BeautyMatter's NEXT50 list of emerging beauty companies

Can an Arab-rooted beauty brand win the Gulf before taking on the world?