La Reina, Online Fashion Rental Platform, Raises $1 Million from Algebra Ventures and 500 Startups

La Reina, an online platform for rental couture, announced $1 million in a Series A funding round led by the venture capital fund, Algebra Ventures, with participation from the global VC fund, 500 Startups.

‘Our number one priority is to take our collection from hundreds to thousands. We aim to grow our current closet in order to reach 5000 items by next January,’ says co-founder Ghada El-Tanawy, ‘This would not only mean a revenue worth of EGP 8 million for the dress owners, but also a humble boost for the local economy and a starting point for a transformative business model,’ El- Tanawy adds.

The company also plans to use the acquired investment to expand its team, ‘We are certainly focusing on the team,’ says Amr Diab, La Reina’s co-founder, ‘At La Reina, we realize that people are the start and end point. We are determined to find the best talent in the local market. Our team has tripled in the past two months, and we’re still looking for more spectacular minds,’ he continues. 

Founded in 2016 by Ghada El-Tanawy and Amr Diab, La Reina, Egypt’s largest couture closet, allowing women to rent their evening and bridal gowns to each other. It has been making waves in the local market for two years, with hundreds of new evening dresses and bridal gowns being added to their curated, expanding collection every month. La Reina caters to women standing on either side of a demand and supply equation - with designer dresses as their meeting point. The company's database is currently full of millennials who appreciate fashion, and who are economically-savvy. To date, the platform has garnered more than EGP 3.5 million for dress owners.

Algebra Ventures is a $50 million Cairo-based venture capital fund that invests in early-stage technology companies. Its investments include Eventtus, Elmenus, GoodsMart, and Filkhedma.

500 Startups is the most active global early-stage VC fund and startup accelerator focusing on discovering and backing the most talented founders worldwide.