Joi Gifts, the prominent online gifting platform in the Middle East, has achieved profitability while growing 5x in the past 12 months to reach this milestone. In parallel, Joi has gone through a rebranding to better connect with its customers, and the company has expanded to its 8th country, Qatar, bringing the total number of cities it operates in to 21. Joi has also recently raised $750k in Pre-Series A funding, which brings the total funding to date to $3.5m. New investors include KI Group from Germany and leading angel investors and major influencers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Joi is now raising its Series A funding, and is in advanced discussions with current and new investors. Joi co-founder Alper Celen said, “We believe Joi’s sustainable growth and profitability at the Seed Stage is a success story for our ecosystem that we hope other startups can emulate going forward. We built Joi systematically to drive loyalty and free traffic, while not wasting investor dollars on advertising platforms. Now that we have reached profitability, we are ready for explosive growth with new funding to become the online brand in the $28B Middle East gifting market.”
Having reached profitability and raised its Pre-Series A funding, Joi brought on board new leadership for the next phase of growth. Rami Kahale joined as CEO in September after leading a key market for Careem, while Mohsin Jawed joined as Director of Operations after leading a key market for Talabat. The Joi team has grown to over 70 people in 6 offices. Aside from going live in Qatar in the coming days, Joi Gifts will also launch in Kuwait in April, and 10 more cities in the countries it already operates in during 2021.
Joi CEO Rami Kahale said, “We consider 2021 to be the ‘Year of Joi’. We are solving a major problem for our customers by serving them across the region with the best mix of brands and a seamless user experience end to end. The combination of our very low acquisition cost and incoming Series A funding will allow us to dramatically increase our marketing spend to make Joi Gifts a household name that is synonymous with gifting.”
Over the coming months, Joi will continue to lead innovation in gifting by launching new features on its platform, such as an AI-driven gift assistant and a premium personal gift concierge. Joi will also continue to build on its “influencer stores” and augmented reality product models. Kahale said, “Having built our foundation, our goal is to not only grow our footprint and reach, but also innovate to become the global standard in online gifting. The Middle East gifting culture is one of the strongest in the world, and we are building Joi to become the global case study for others to emulate.”
About Joi Gifts
Launched in 2016, Joi is the leading online gifting platform in the Middle East, available in seven countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman and Bahrain. Joi has more than more than twenty thousand gift items live on its curated platform across five main categories: flowers, cakes & gourmet, unique gifts, experiences, and gift cards. Most of these gifts are available for same-day delivery, and are delivered with Joi’s premium, concierge-style delivery service, which is a key differentiator of the platform. Joi Gifts is available online at joigifts.com and on the Apple and Android app stores. Joi was founded by venture studio Enhance Ventures, and funded by angel and institutional investors including Merak Capital, 500 Falcons, 500 Startups, Hala Capital, Khwarizmi Capital, Two Culture Capital, and KI Group.
