CORUNNA: Logistics investments, new technology... Faced with fierce online competition from the likes of Amazon, affordable fashion giants Zara and H&M are shoring up their defenses, trying to use their stores to boost Internet sales.
Separated by thin partitions, 15 little photo studios used exclusively to update the website line up in a corner of Zara’s huge headquarters near Corunna in Spain’s northwest.
Under a constant barrage of camera flashes, models strike pose after pose to get seven photos showing the piece of clothing under all angles.
In total, 1,500 photos are put on line twice a week to match the speed at which articles of clothing are replaced in-store.
“Online sales are becoming an element that is contributing significantly to the company’s growth,” said Pablo Isla, CEO of the Inditex group which owns Zara among other brands like Massimo Dutti, said this week at the annual results’ presentation.
In 2017, these represented 10 percent of sales, a figure unveiled this week after years of secrecy over a crucial sector that Inditex only entered in 2010, on the late side.
Sergio Avila Luengo, an analyst at IG Markets, said gaining “more visibility online” was the main challenge for Inditex if it wants to remain “competitive on the long term.”
He said the retail giant started having trouble clearing its stocks for the first time in 2017 due to competition from Amazon, which sells everything from books to clothes.
For its part Sweden’s H&M, Inditex’s arch-rival, has recognized that a drop in profits in 2017 was due in large part to online competition.
The clothing market “is in big transformation,” CEO Karl-Johan Persson said in February.
“It is happening fast and it is challenging everyone.
“We know about the big online platforms, I’m thinking Amazon and (China’s) Alibaba, affecting our industry,” he said, adding smaller niche online players were also “a force to be reckoned with.”
In the United States, Amazon was in 2016 the top online clothes vendor.
It holds 11 percent of the global clothing market, and this is expected to rise to 19 percent in 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
German online clothing and shoes platform Zalando and Britain’s Asos, meanwhile, saw their European sales leap 25 percent and 34 percent respectively between 2012 and 2015, according to the Ecommerce Foundation.
Faced with this threat, H&M devoted 45 percent of its investment to Internet in 2017, or close to 600 million euros ($736 million), for a new photo studio and personalized apps for its clients.
Inditex is also investing, but would not unveil how much.
Both groups are gradually offering the possibility for next-day or even same-day delivery of online orders, as well as the possibility to easily pick up and return clothes to stores.
These services may be crucial for customers but they represent a major logistics challenge, especially when faced with Amazon which already has “a much bigger logistics structure, already adapted to all sorts of different products,” said IG Markets analyst Avila Luengo.
As it counter-attacks, Inditex has opened 19 warehouses in the world dedicated only to the Internet, which are managed like stores. H&M is soon to follow suit.
Both are also taking advantage of their thousands of stores, including for client delivery.
When online sales are launched in new markets, “we get to profitability really quick,” H&M financial director Jyrki Tervonen told investors in February.
He said this was “thanks to the fact we already have a store network, we are a well-known brand, appreciated among the consumers.”
Inditex has invested a lot in the renovation of its stores, removing the smallest ones in favor of huge flagship shops in city centers.
Both groups are implementing systems to avoid missing out on a sale if for instance the size isn’t available for a customer, by telling him or her that the item is available online.
Gildas Minvielle, head of the economic observatory at the French Fashion Institute, said their strategy was to combine both sales methods.
“Distributors that develop their stores and their online sales perform quite well,” he said.
Zara and H&M shore up defenses as Internet threatens
Zara and H&M shore up defenses as Internet threatens
Capital concentrates as MENA startups close deals
- Fresh funding flows in even as broader market data points to a slowdown
RIYADH: Startup funding activity across the Middle East and North Africa delivered a mixed picture over the past week, with fresh capital flowing into gaming, fintech, deep tech, and travel, even as broader market data pointed to a slowdown in overall investment momentum.
Saudi Arabia’s Impact46 led a $1 million investment round in Hypemasters, an international game development studio focused on competitive strategy experiences for mobile. The round included participation from GEM Capital.
Hypemasters develops strategy titles designed for competitive depth and precise game mechanics and has attracted more than 7 million players globally.
The studio is currently advancing several new projects, including a title in soft launch, as it looks to expand its reach in markets with sustained demand for strategy games.
“Strategy is one of the most demanding categories in game development, and Hypemasters approaches it with uncommon discipline. Their work shows a clear understanding of what committed players expect from this genre, and we believe their upcoming titles can serve a global audience with genuine depth,” said Basmah Al-Sinaidi, managing partner at Impact46.
“We are pleased to support a team that builds with intention and long-term ambition,” she added.
Boris Kalmykov, CEO and co-founder of Hypemasters, said: “We’re focused on deepening our presence across the region and pushing forward with the next generation of strategy games, including a major new title already in soft launch. Partnering with Impact46 marks an important step for Hypemasters.”
The CEO added that Impact46 shares his company’s long-term vision for building “world-class strategy games” from the MENA region, and the support reinforces his firm’s commitment to expanding its portfolio with high-quality releases.
The investment reflects Impact46’s continued interest in game development and interactive entertainment and aligns with its broader strategy of backing studios building globally oriented titles.
Premialab raises $220m
UAE-headquartered Premialab, a provider of data, analytics, and risk management solutions for quantitative investing, has raised $220 million in a growth investment led by KKR, with participation from existing investor Balderton.
Founded in Hong Kong in 2016 by Adrien Geliot and Pierre Trecourt, Premialab operates a global platform serving the $800 billion quantitative investment strategies market.
Counterfeits don’t just impact economies; they erase identity, creativity and truth. Along with our investors, we’re building a movement to make the world’s stories verifiable again.
Walid Tarabih, founder and CEO of Relik
The company provides benchmarking, performance analysis, and risk analytics tools for institutional investors.
The funding will be used to support global expansion, strengthen core operational systems, and scale Premialab’s execution product, which was developed in partnership with Eurex, to broaden access to quantitative investment strategies.
“Quantitative investment strategies have grown rapidly in scale and importance, yet the market has lacked a truly independent standard for data, analytics and risk. Premialab was built to fill that gap,” said Adrien Geliot, CEO of Premialab.
Relik closes seed round
UAE-based Relik has closed a seed funding round with participation from KBW Ventures, Naatt Holding, Fort Holding, and Ayman Sejiny.
Founded in 2023 by Walid Tarabih and later joined by John Tsioris, Relik is an artificial intelligence-powered authentication platform designed to help collectors, brands, and marketplaces.
The company plans to use the funding to roll out additional products and expand across sectors including sports, luxury, and heritage markets.
“We are ensuring authenticity in a fakeable world,” said Walid Tarabih, founder and CEO of Relik, adding: “Counterfeits don’t just impact economies; they erase identity, creativity and truth. Along with our investors, we’re building a movement to make the world’s stories verifiable again.”
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al-Saud, founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, said: “Relik is creating a new global standard for truth and trust. At a time when counterfeiting and AI-generated content are rising, Relik’s mission to protect authenticity carries both cultural and commercial value.”
Nawah raises $23m
Egypt-based deep tech startup Nawah Scientific has raised $23 million in a series A round comprising a mix of equity and debt, marking a decade since the company’s founding.
The round was led by Life Ventures Holding, with participation from Den Ventures, Empire M, AfricInvest, Elsewedy, as well as banks and angel investors.
Founded in 2015 by Omar Saqr, Nawah operates a cloud laboratory model that enables remote access to advanced testing services. Its operations span four business units covering life sciences, food and agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and certified reference materials.
The company plans to use the funding to build a global research and development center in Rwanda, double laboratory capacity in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and expand into North Africa and Europe.
Algeria’s VOLZ raises $5m
Algeria-based travel tech startup VOLZ has raised $5 million in a series A funding round led by a consortium of private investors under Tell Group, with participation from Groupe GIBA.
Founded in 2023 by Mohamed Abdelhadi and Hacene Seghier, VOLZ enables travelers to book flights in Algerian dinars using online payments or cash on delivery, while comparing multiple airlines through a single platform.
Announced at the African Startup Conference in December, the transaction is Algeria’s largest startup funding round in local currency and marks the first exit of the Algerian Startup Fund.
The capital will be used to launch new consumer and corporate travel products, strengthen VOLZ’s position in Algeria, and support expansion across North and West Africa.
MENA startup funding slows in November
Investment activity across the MENA startup ecosystem slowed sharply in November 2025, with 35 startups raising a combined $227.8 million, according to Wamda’s monthly report.
This marked a steep decline from the $784.9 million recorded in the previous month and a 12 percent drop compared to November 2024, pointing to a period of consolidation as investors moderated deployment toward the end of the year.
More than half of the capital raised during the month was driven by a single debt-backed transaction by erad, which propelled Saudi Arabia to the top of the regional rankings. Across 14 deals, the Kingdom attracted $176.3 million, accounting for more than three-quarters of all capital deployed in November.
Despite funding activity spanning 35 startups, capital was concentrated in just 5 markets. After Saudi Arabia’s dominant lead, the UAE followed with $49 million across 14 transactions.
Egypt recorded $1.12 million across 4 deals, while Morocco raised $1.1 million through 2 transactions. Oman saw 1 deal with an undisclosed value, with limited activity reported outside these markets.
Fintech emerged as the most funded sector in November, raising $142.9 million across 9 deals, largely influenced by the same debt-driven transaction.
E-commerce followed with $24.5 million across 6 rounds, while property tech, which topped the charts in October, slipped to 3rd with $18.9 million raised by 3 startups.
Debt financing dominated the month, accounting for more than $125 million through a single transaction.
The remaining capital was largely channelled into early-stage startups, with no later-stage funding rounds recorded in November, underscoring continued investor caution.
From a business model perspective, B2B startups captured the majority of capital, with 20 companies raising $197.1 million.
B2C startups lagged, with 9 companies raising a combined $22.2 million, while the remainder was split across hybrid models.
The gender funding gap showed no signs of narrowing, with male-led startups absorbing 97 percent of the capital raised during the month. Female-led and mixed-gender founding teams accounted for the remaining share.
