Tunisia’s first fashion marketplace for women Dabchy has gained popularity in the country. The online platform was launched in 2016 by the eponymous startup founded by Ameni Mansouri, a biomedical engineer with a passion for fashion, Ghazi Ketata, a computer security engineer, and Oussema Mahjoub, a web developer.
The platform, which claims $550,000 invested so far in its development in Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria now plans to expand in the Middle East. The service connects thousands of women who want to sell, buy and trade second-hand clothes.
"Dabchy is a community of hundreds of thousands of women who love fashion. They share not only their wardrobes but also all their worlds with great looks," explains Ameni Mansouri, president, and CEO of Dabchy. To date,1.1 million items are available on the platform. An article is posted every 40 seconds and more than 500,000 users are registered, according to the co-founders. Customer service is handled 100% in-house using technology. The site has several features. It offers the user the ability to view the latest items posted, sorted by category, color, brand, and condition (new with tags, new without tags, very good condition, good condition, satisfactory). All seller is required to provide pictures, descriptions, and the price of the article to be sold. The platform has also integrated a children’s session since 2018.
Dabchy has reached a partnership with the logistics service provider Aramex and the Tunisian Post Office to ensure fast delivery of goods via Rapid-Poste. Payments are either made online via bank account or e-Dinar card, or in cash. When payment is made in cash, the buyer pays the amount to the delivery agent, who in turn deposits it into a Dabchy account.
The platform administrators can then verify the transaction and quickly send the amount to the seller. The latter receives the money 24 hours after delivery.
In 2019, Dabchy raised $300,000 in a round led by the incubator 500 Startups, with the participation of Flat6labs Tunisia, Vision Venture Capital, Daal Venture Capital, as well as a group of Business Angels. The following year, the platform won the MEA Seed Challenge of Orange Ventures, the investment fund of Orange, and shared €670,000 with winning startups from other countries. To date, Dabchy has received $550,000 in funding. The startup, which plans to open in the Middle East, also plans to launch a "VIP service" to authenticate luxury clothing or accessories worth more than TND300 ($104.80).
"We want to offer a service that allows us to become a platform for luxury second-hand clothing, so we can target markets such as Dubai, for example," says Ameni Mansouri.
Ruben Tchounyabe
