Operating out of Istanbul and Dubai, REM People aims to bring retail analytics to 5 new GCC countries in 2023
REM People has raised $12 million in funding and aims to expand across five countries in 2023.
Bülent Peker, Emre Haraccioglu, and Mert Alemdar founded out of Istanbul in 2015. The retail analytics company provides AI-powered omnichannel retail execution management solutions.
The trio has earlier worked in the retail segment and knew the importance of a good data analytics solution.
Apart from Istanbul, the company also has offices in Dubai and London. Last month, it raised $12 million in from US-based Ethos Asset Management.
William Bao Bean, of SOSV and Orbit Startups, on running a business in the GCC region
What is the funding for?
REM People will use these funds to expand its international network to 24 offices and to reward employees with bonuses, with the eventual goal of sharing 10% of company shares with their employees via an employee stock option program (ESOP). In 2023, it plans to step up operations in five GCC countries.
"We were very impressed with the team at REM People, led by Bulent Peker, their vision and commitment to help brands ensure that their products are always available and visible in the shopping areas, where a remarkable space share is guaranteed, pricing is correct, planogram and other KPIs are compliant, and the competition is closely tracked," said Carlos Santos, CEO, Ethos Management.
Servicing over 50 countries, REM People works with 120 brands and retailers. The company increased the number of employees to 140 specialists, an increase of nearly 40% compared to the previous year.
The startup provides AI-based technology, combined with live business intelligence tools, which create actionable insights for all user levels.
It helps clients track their product journeys by monitoring retail merchandising operations and execution performance offline, online and via printed channels.
“We intend to accelerate the scaling of our AI-based technology by investing these funds in AI-focused research and development activities, in our international expansion, in launching new products, as well as helping to establish a marketplace that provides one-stop retail analytics services for global consumer packaged goods companies and retailers," Bulent Peker, Co-founder and CEO, REM People says.
Carlos Santos, CEO, Ethos Management
Dubai SME CEO Abdul Baset Al Janani on how Dubai has grown to be a platform for startups, businesses, and SMEs
The push in the MENA
Bulent says the company is growing, especially in the MENA and gulf region.
“Since 2018, we have been serving a wide geography, from our office in Dubai to the entire Gulf region and even North Africa and the Asia Pacific. In this geography, we work with the region's leading FMCG brands and retailers, such as Kellogg's, Mondelez, PepsiCo DRC, Americana, Seara, Al Marai, Carrefour, Majid Al Futtaim, Arla Foods, Bahlsen, Bazooka, Ferrero, Haribo, IFFCO Group, KraftHeinz and Red Bull,” Bulent adds.
REM People will start its regional operations in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to Bulent. “We will be managing the Gulf region by expanding it through a 3-legged structure that includes the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar,” he says.
The team also aims to increase the efficiency of the models of going to the field, which FMCG companies in the region implement due to the realities of the region. Many companies in the region enter the market through local distributors and deliver their products to shoppers.
“As REM People, we will offer solutions that will increase the field sales performance of these distributors with whom the companies are contracted and the product performance within the sales points. For example, in this context, we expanded the work that I started with IFFCO in the United Arab Emirates to Oman in a short time. In 2023, we are embarking on a major effort to increase IFFCO's retail application performance and sales efficiency in 10 different categories in a wider geography, including Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia,” says Bulent.
REM People has also expanded the price tracking and competition tracking project that the team had started with Carrefour—a retailer and wholesaler company—with 3,000 products to Oman after the UAE at the end of last year.
According to a Data Bridge Report, the MENA region’s retail analytics market will touch $2.25 billion by 2028. The market has been growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 19.6% since 2021, and will continue at the same pace until 2028. Some of the other companies in the space include Verofax, Hullexo, MT Labs and others.
“The power of data is growing more each day. While it is relatively easy to measure data for online channels, making data meaningful in physical channels is still challenging. REM People offer a fresh approach to this problem and we are pleased to be a part of their journey and to help them reach their international goals,” says Mustafa Kemal Genc, Ethos Associate, Attributed Holdings Inc (AHI).
Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti
