Amaani Raises $5M After AÏZA’s Reported Ninefold Growth

Amaani’s September 28, 2026, announcement disclosed a $5 million Series A led by BECO Capital, joined by Homegrown Ventures and Peak XV’s Surge, bringing total funding to $8 million; it also said net revenue at its beauty brand AÏZA grew more than ninefold year over year in the first half of 2026. The Dubai company plans to prioritize Saudi Arabia, then expand into Kuwait and Qatar. The revenue figure is Amaani’s account of its own performance; the announcement provides no independently audited revenue figures.

AÏZA’s store locator lists Ulta Beauty at Dubai Hills Mall and Mall of the Emirates, plus Snob Salon in Dubai, as open, while its Ulta entries for Riyadh and Jeddah remain labeled “opening soon.” The brand has named Saudi retail destinations, but its own listing has yet to mark them open. That status describes the physical stores; AÏZA has already sold directly to consumers online in Saudi Arabia.

The round backs retail and product expansion

BECO Capital’s lead investment follows Amaani’s move from online-led selling into UAE retail. The company has identified product development, hiring and technology infrastructure alongside Gulf expansion as uses of the new capital. Broader distribution would give shoppers more opportunities to encounter AÏZA, while a wider product range could give retailers more reasons to retain it. The immediate operating milestone is the planned Saudi store launch, rather than the financing close itself.

AÏZA’s skincare and haircare draw on dates, black seed, frankincense, rose and bakhoor, with formulations developed through laboratories in Korea, Japan and Italy. This product identity is central to Amaani’s expansion: a brand built around regional beauty traditions is seeking space in retail networks beyond its established UAE stores. The move will expose its products to shoppers who may encounter them first on a shelf rather than through the brand’s website.

What the reported growth says about demand

The reported increase compares two periods; it does not disclose the size of AÏZA’s business. Net revenue in the first half of 2026 was reported as more than nine times the comparable period a year earlier, when the brand’s distribution was younger. A large multiple from a smaller starting base can coexist with a business still building scale. Without the underlying revenue amounts, the figure cannot show how much the brand sold, how sales were divided among markets or how often customers returned.

In Beauty Independent’s interview, founder and chief executive Shubham Poddar said, “You could see the repeat purchase”; the report put retail at about 30% of sales, described a 13-product range priced at roughly $30 to $70, identified Date Setter Brow and Lash Boosting Serum as generating more than 30% of sales, and noted earlier direct-to-consumer distribution in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia. These details give the growth claim commercial context, although the repeat-purchase observation and sales shares remain company-reported. They also clarify the Saudi expansion: local online customers precede the proposed physical rollout.

Date Setter’s reported contribution shows how much a lead product can matter to a young brand. It may help introduce shoppers to the rest of AÏZA’s haircare and skincare range, but sales concentrated in one item reveal less about demand across the full assortment. Physical retail adds another measure: stores must replenish products after the initial placement for shelf space to become a durable sales channel. Amaani has not released product-level results for the proposed Saudi locations.

Saudi Arabia is the first retail milestone

The planned Ulta Beauty sites are Red Sea Mall in Jeddah and Riyadh Park in Riyadh, with a launch targeted for the end of September. That target has passed, and AÏZA’s locator still describes its Saudi entries as forthcoming. The retailer and destinations are specific, but the brand has yet to mark those store placements open. An updated listing or an in-store launch would resolve the immediate question of physical availability.

The UAE provides an operating precedent, though it is not a forecast for Saudi Arabia. In Dubai, AÏZA has listed Ulta Beauty stores and a salon as open alongside sales through its own website and Ounass. Saudi stores would bring different foot traffic, shopping habits and replenishment decisions. Initial placement would establish physical access to shoppers; continued orders and sales through those stores would say more about whether demand extends beyond the brand’s existing online audience.

Kuwait and Qatar follow on a different clock

Kuwait and Qatar sit after Saudi Arabia in the rollout schedule, with expansion expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. The later market entries are planned to begin through direct-to-consumer sales, while physical distribution is tied to Ulta Beauty’s regional openings. A country-level launch can therefore happen before a local counter exists. AÏZA’s locator places both countries on the horizon rather than among its named open stockists.

The sequence creates distinct measures of progress for Amaani: an open Saudi retail listing, sales that sustain those placements, and subsequent entry into Kuwait and Qatar. Financing gives the company resources to pursue each stage, while its reported growth describes performance before the planned retail network is in place. The next visible change should be the named Saudi locations moving from “opening soon” to open; their later sales will show whether the new shelf space attracts lasting demand.