Industry Ecommerce Founded 2007 Type of business Private company | Website digikala.com Headquarters Tehran Number of employees 1,000 (2016) | |
CEO Hamid Mohammadi (23 Feb 2007–) Founders Saeid Mohammadi, Hamid Mohammadi | ||
Digikala is the biggest ecommerce startup in Iran and the Middle East. It was founded in July, 2006 by twin brothers Hamid and Saeed Mohammadi who had an unpleasant experience when they tried to buy a digital camera, after which they used $10,000 of their own savings to start the company. The company was reported to be valued at $150 million in 2014, and $500 million in late 2015. One of its investors is Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, although Digikala's main investor is Sarava Pars, an Iranian investment company. Digikala offers same day delivery in Tehran and Karaj, and offers next day delivery in 20 other cities.
Growth
Digikala is ranked by Alexa as Iran's 3rd most visited website. It has 750,000 unique visitors per day, and 85% of Iran's ecommerce now takes place on Digikala. The company does not publicise its revenue but has said sales are growing at a rate of 200% a year, and that it is receiving orders from even the most remote villages in Iran. Hamid Mohammadi said the main focus of the company remains expansion "even if that means we will not be profitable, which is how Amazon is operating”.