Qeen.ai Uses AI Agents to Automate E-Commerce

Small online merchants spend thousands monthly on agencies to write product descriptions, run ads, and manage customer conversations. They still fall behind bigger competitors with dedicated marketing teams. Qeen.ai built AI agents that do all three jobs autonomously—and raised $10 million to prove it works.

The Dubai-based startup secured seed funding led by Prosus Ventures in February 2025, with participation from Wamda Capital, 10x Founders, and Dara Holdings. Since launching its first product in June 2024, the AI e-commerce platform has generated over 1 million product descriptions, served 15 million users, and increased merchant sales by 30%. Founders Morteza Ibrahimi, Ahmad Khwileh, and Dina Alsamhan—all former Google and DeepMind researchers—built the technology on reinforcement learning systems that continuously improve from customer interactions.

Why MENA E-Commerce Needed This

The Middle East and North Africa e-commerce market is expected to hit $50 billion by 2025, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE leading growth. But small merchants face challenges that don't exist in developed markets.

Language barriers come first. Most AI marketing tools optimize for English. Arabic has different grammar structures, right-to-left text flow, and regional dialects from Morocco to the Gulf. Generic translation produces awkward product descriptions that damage trust.

Cultural shopping preferences matter more than Western e-commerce platforms recognize. Gift-buying patterns differ. Color symbolism varies by country. Payment methods include cash-on-delivery at rates unheard of in Europe or North America. Generic AI tools trained on American shopping data miss these nuances entirely.

Expensive agency dependency kills margins. Hiring agencies to write product copy, design campaigns, and manage customer service costs thousands monthly—money small merchants don't have. DIY approaches take time away from operations. The result: only businesses with capital can compete effectively online.

Ibrahimi left DeepMind in early 2023 specifically to solve this. He, Khwileh, and Alsamhan had all worked in Google Ads, watching e-commerce businesses struggle with the same pattern—success depended more on gaming ad algorithms than building good products. They believed AI marketing automation could level the playing field.

How the Autonomous AI Agents Actually Work

Qeen.ai doesn't just provide chatbots or content templates. It deploys three specialized AI agents that operate independently while learning from each interaction.

The Dynamic Content Agent generates and localizes product descriptions in real time. Upload a product image and basic specs—the agent writes compelling copy optimized for search engines and conversions. It adapts based on what works: if short descriptions perform better for electronics, it adjusts. If detailed storytelling sells fashion items, it shifts style automatically. The system has generated over 1 million SKU descriptions since launch.

The Marketing Agent automates campaigns across email, WhatsApp, and push notifications. It doesn't just send messages—it personalizes timing, content, and targeting based on user behavior patterns. Someone browsing shoes at midnight gets different messaging than a lunchtime browser. The agent tests variations constantly, improving performance without human intervention.

The Conversational Sales Agent handles customer inquiries end-to-end. Questions about sizing, shipping, returns, product comparisons—the agent responds instantly in natural language. Unlike rule-based chatbots that follow decision trees, this agent uses reinforcement learning to understand context and intent. It learns which responses close sales and which create friction.

The proprietary RL-UI technology (reinforcement learning user interface) continuously refines strategies based on real customer interactions. Whether users browse on mobile or desktop, the content adapts to device behavior and screen size. The system doesn't need manual A/B testing—it learns what works through millions of micro-interactions daily.

Proven Results from Notable MENA Merchants

Dubai Store, 6th Street, and Jumia are among Qeen.ai's clients, though the company hasn't disclosed total user numbers or revenue metrics. What matters is retention. Most AI sales tools suffer from high churn because merchants try them briefly, see limited results, and cancel subscriptions.

Qeen.ai claims deeper operational integration prevents this. The platform isn't supplemental—it becomes essential infrastructure. Merchants don't turn it off because it actively runs their content pipeline, marketing calendar, and customer service queue. Removing it would break core operations.

The 30% sales increase metric comes from merchants using the complete agent suite, not individual tools. One agent writing better descriptions helps. Three agents coordinating content, marketing, and customer conversations transforms the entire funnel.

The startup currently employs over 25 people across the UAE and Jordan. Ibrahimi told TechCrunch they've attracted top talent from the Bay Area, Europe, and the UK—engineers choosing to build in Dubai rather than San Francisco or London. Two co-founders hold PhDs in AI. Ibrahimi previously led a DeepMind research team working on self-learning AI agents, the same technology now powering Qeen.ai's platform.

How This Compares to Global Competitors

YC-backed Unusual and Rankai tackle similar challenges in the United States and Europe. But they focus on established markets with mature e-commerce infrastructure, standardized payment systems, and English-first consumer bases.

Qeen.ai deliberately prioritized MENA first—a region underserved by AI-driven marketing automation. While American competitors optimize for Amazon sellers and Shopify stores, Qeen.ai handles cash-on-delivery complexities, Arabic language nuances, and regional shopping patterns that Western tools ignore.

The $10 million seed round is one of the largest for an AI startup in the Middle East. For comparison, Saudi Arabia's Halo.ai raised $6 million in January 2025. Dubai's Camb.ai secured $4 million a year ago. Multimillion-dollar seed rounds remain rare in the region, making Prosus Ventures' investment particularly significant.

Prosus, a major e-commerce investor globally, sees Qeen.ai as positioned to bring AI-driven automation to Middle East merchants as AI agents reshape online marketplaces. The firm manages portfolios across India, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas in e-commerce, fintech, and SaaS.

What the Funding Enables

The $10 million brings total funding to $12 million—Qeen.ai raised $2 million pre-seed in 2023 before launching its first product. The new capital scales the platform, expands the team, and attracts more customers across Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan.

Technical expansion focuses on handling more languages and dialects. Gulf Arabic differs from Levantine Arabic, which differs from Maghrebi Arabic. The agents must understand these variations to serve the full 400 million-person MENA market effectively.

The company also plans integration with regional payment providers, logistics partners, and marketplaces beyond generic Shopify connections. MENA e-commerce infrastructure differs enough from Western markets that deep localization matters more than feature parity with American tools.

Dubai is positioning itself as the AI e-commerce hub for the region. Government initiatives support AI startups through visa programs, funding access, and regulatory frameworks that enable experimentation. Qeen.ai benefits from this ecosystem while simultaneously proving it works—success attracts more talent and capital to the region.