Mr Usta

Dubai-based online marketplace connecting residents with service providers known as ustas, launched in 2014, with a Turkey launch reported in 2022.

Industry: Home services marketplace | Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Founded: 2014 | Total Funding: USD 1.1M

About Mr Usta

Mr Usta, also written Mrusta, is an online marketplace based in Dubai that connects residents with service providers, known on the platform as ustas, a term for skilled tradespeople. Wamda described it in 2016 as a platform that charges a fee for connecting customers with providers across services ranging from dog walking to car repair, available through a website and iOS and Android apps.

Ibrahim Colak founded the company with his wife, Dunia Othman. Wamda reported in 2015 that Colak, born in Istanbul and formerly of Nokia, left Nokia and began building the platform in summer 2013 after a repairer failed to arrive for a broken air conditioner. Mr Usta launched in January 2014. In 2015 Othman was marketing chief, Onur Tepeli was chief technology officer and Serhan Yacizi was chief financial officer.

In 2015 the site listed about 3,000 service providers in more than 200 categories. By November 2016 Wamda reported about 10,000 customers a month, more than 6,000 active providers and 300 service categories, with operations only in the UAE. The company said it was preparing an Arabic site and a strategy for Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries.

Funding came slowly at first. The founders pitched at a women-focused event and ran a crowdfunding campaign on Eureeca that reached about 30 percent of its target. In August 2015 Wamda reported a seed investment of USD 351,000 pledged by Amjad Ahmad, a former chief executive of NBK Capital Partners. In November 2016 the company secured a pre-Series A round of AED 2.75 million, about USD 750,000, from Precinct Partners, Millennial Partners and Co, and angel investors from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It aimed to close a Series A in 2017.

Webrazzi reported in April 2022 that Mr Usta had begun serving customers in Istanbul, with a USD 4 million investment partnership backed by Turkish entrepreneur Oner Celebi. It said providers are screened, trained and certified through Mr Usta Akademi, and customers pay fixed fees by card.

Leadership