Nana

Nana, operating legally as Central Markets Co., is a Riyadh headquartered e-grocery and quick commerce platform founded in 2016 by Sami Alhelwah and Ahmed Alsamani, two Qassim University computer science graduates, as an online marketplace connecting consumers with hypermarkets including Panda, Carrefour, Spar, and Farm Superstores across Saudi cities. The company evolved from a marketplace model into a dark store operator, building a network of micro-fulfillment centers under the NanaExpress brand offering 15-minute delivery of up to 2,000 SKUs for daily needs, and a NanaHyper service with over 22,000 SKUs for weekly and monthly shopping, later expanding into restaurant food delivery through a partnership with The Chefz, beauty brands, and digital gift cards through the October 2024 acquisition of Rasseed. Nana attracted more than 14 investors across five rounds totaling approximately 208 million dollars, including Kingdom Holding Company, STV, FIM Partners, MEVP, Impact46, Jahez, Sunbulah Group, Dallah Al-Baraka Group, and Uni Ventures, and at the time of its largest round in February 2023 was described as one of the most heavily capitalized startups in the Kingdom, with ambitions to capture 40 percent of Saudi Arabia's online grocery market by 2026. However, in April 2026 the Commercial Court in Riyadh opened financial reorganization proceedings for Central Markets Co., appointing bankruptcy trustee Majed bin Munir Al-Nimr and calling on all creditors to submit claims within 90 days, making Nana one of the most high-profile startup distress cases in Saudi Arabia's history. Co-founder Abdulmajeed Alsukhan had previously departed Nana and went on to co-found BNPL unicorn Tamara.