Family Offices should actively lend support to startups, entrepreneurs, says Ayman Tamer

Family Offices should actively lend support to startups and entrepreneurs as this will encourage more startups, boost the ecosystem to produce new innovations, Ayman Tamer, chairman of Tamer Group, told Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview.

Last week, the group signed a sales and purchase agreement with Dubai-based Mumzworld — which has been trading since 2011 and become the largest mother, baby & child (MBC) e-commerce platform in the Middle East — for a proposed acquisition of a majority stake.

Tamer said: “I see more family businesses will move into extending support to innovation. The startups need to add to the equity story to attract family businesses.”

Tamer Group is one of the largest regional healthcare distributors with its consumer and nutrition divisions and logistics services. Tamer’s annual turnover is 9.2 billion Saudi riyals with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 11 per cent.

“The Mumzworld’s acquisition will open the door for accelerating the Tamer Group’s digitisation and complement the new business model that the group is tapping,” added Tamer.

The transaction will give Mumzworld access to a large, committed pool of capital that will allow the business to supercharge its growth. Tamer will also help further institutionalise the business, and use Tamer’s portfolio companies to spur organic growth of Mumzworld.

“We believe that e-commerce is the future for the GCC. As a major player in the FMCG space, e-commerce is no longer an option, but a necessity. The world has shifted to a customer-centric model with consumer behaviours, trends and data becoming the new gold. Players in the space need to understand their customers and adapt to their changing needs. Mumzworld will be a stepping stone towards ‘Tamer Digital’ — a very ambitious vertical we intend to build to serve the nation, working towards delivering on Saudi’s Vision 2030,” added Tamer.

The group is celebrating their 100 year anniversary and is the largest healthcare distributor in the GCC especially in Saudi Arabia. With a strong footprint in healthcare, beauty care, prestige products, and FMCG. — sandhya@khaleejtimes.com

Sandhya D'Mello

Journalist. Period. My interests are Economics, Finance and Information Technology. Prior to joining Khaleej Times, I have worked with some leading publications in India, including the Economic Times.