Novimed: Tripled sales with Opontia

Back in 2019, Ahmed Sami realised no one was selling specialised medical pillows and positioners in the UAE. He used his pharmaceutical industry experience to research and launch a pillow that helped people with acid reflux. That idea rapidly grew into a range of around 20 different pillows and positioners, which he and his wife began successfully selling to UAE hospitals, via diverse suppliers sourced from China and the USA.

The business – Novimed – grew and grew, and then, partly influenced by the pandemic, Novimed started selling its products online, via local channels such as mumzworld.com and, of course, via Amazon. The business boomed, but Sami and his wife felt overwhelmed by their success.

Sami explained: “During our start-up years, we always cared about providing high-quality products, and always listened to our customers. After three years, we had developed a brand with a good reputation. But my wife and I had reached the point where while the brand was doing well - and it was expanding - we felt we could not do it alone anymore.

“We needed someone to help take Novimed to the next level. To do that ourselves would mean more resources and capital – which simply wasn’t available to us at that time. So, we started exploring our options, and that’s when we discovered Opontia.”

Opontia acquires, operates and scales outstanding e-commerce brands in a simple four-step process, designed to make things easy for everyone involved.

Balagopal Menon, VP, Investments and Acquisitions at Opontia, explains: “We adopt a seller-focused approach. Brands receive a lucrative offer and a share of future profit growth, while we grow your brand.

“We immediately saw that Sami had built an amazing brand that targeted and addressed a specific gap in the market - medical pillows. The brand had a strong customer focus, reflected in positive reviews online and strong word-of-mouth-driven sales.”

Bala said when the Opontia team met with Sami, he had reached that inflection point where he was thinking about what to do next with the brand, and how to take it from a strong UAE-based brand to the next level.

“We saw strong potential for this brand in various other channels in the UAE as well as other GCC markets. We knew we could add a lot of value in channel expansion, geographic expansion, product line expansion, marketing and branding.”

Sami felt joining forces with Opontia was a good fit for the growing Novimed brand, a real chance to scale up and grow with the right experts.

But how did Sami – who is the first to admit he lacked any experience of e-commerce prior to Novimed - prepare for Opontia’s acquisition?

He said the key to the process is to always maintain a good track of your financial and customer data.

“We had to prepare some top-level data around our financials and operations based on which we received an initial offer from Opontia. Once we agreed on this offer, we met several times as part of a very quick and efficient due diligence process before the final acquisition,” added Sami.

And he was impressed with the process, suggesting that the Opontia team was not only professional, but the transition was smooth and the whole process took less than 60 days.

Opontia’s Balagopal added: “Novimed underlines that there has never been a better time to start an e-commerce brand in the region. The main thing you need to do is just get started. Once you do, you will realise there are a wealth of resources and opportunities for e-commerce entrepreneurs to realise their vision. If you ever hit a wall or wonder how to grow your business to the next level, you can always simply speak to us.”

For the next two years, Sami will continue working with Novimed through Opontia, offering his expertise and intimate product knowledge on a consultancy basis, while receiving a share in the incremental profits.

And Sami’s final advice??“If you have the dream to see your brand at the next level, then Opontia is the right team to help you take it there.”