Damascus-based Doushesh has secured a pre-seed funding round to kick off 2026, a significant development for Syria's emerging startup ecosystem. The digital classifieds platform also announced a strategic partnership with Adnan Khabbaz, who joins as a Partner and Technical Advisor. This dual announcement positions the company for accelerated growth and technological advancement as it aims to organize the local digital marketplace.
A Strategic Push for Market Leadership
The new capital is earmarked to help Doushesh digitize Syria’s largely informal buying and selling landscape. The company aims to build a trusted, community-driven marketplace by prioritizing transaction reliability and user safety. This focus on depth of engagement over surface-level metrics is central to its strategy for establishing market leadership and user confidence.
For 2026, Doushesh is pursuing a two-pronged strategy focused on both expansion and user retention. The company plans to grow its user base across Syria’s main provinces while simultaneously improving the quality of its listings. By implementing stricter controls to combat fraudulent ads, the platform seeks to become the default choice for secure local commerce.
Bolstering Technology with Regional Expertise
The appointment of Adnan Khabbaz brings significant regional expertise to the Doushesh team. As the current CTO of Aqar, Saudi Arabia’s largest real estate platform, he has extensive experience in scaling high-availability consumer marketplaces. His role as a technical advisor is expected to guide the platform through its next phase of product maturity and expansion.
A key focus of the new partnership will be to enhance the platform's technological foundation. Doushesh plans to automate internal operations and integrate artificial intelligence to streamline core workflows for users and merchants. These upgrades are designed to build a more resilient infrastructure capable of handling increased traffic as the platform scales its operations.
Expanding into High-Value Verticals
Looking ahead, Doushesh intends to expand its offerings into high-value specialized verticals. The company will initially focus on the real estate and automotive sectors, which represent significant transaction volumes in the local market. Developing tailored features and verification processes for these categories is a key part of its immediate growth plan.
The platform's long-term ambition is to become a primary reference point for market pricing in Syria. By aggregating vast amounts of supply and demand data, Doushesh aims to provide real-time insights into local economic trends. This data could unlock future opportunities for new services and strategic partnerships within the Syrian economy.
With fresh funding, strengthened technical leadership, and a clear strategic roadmap, Doushesh is poised for significant progress in 2026. Founded in 2025 by Allaeddin Zarzour and Zafer Odabashi, the company is set to solidify its role in organizing Syria's digital marketplace. This move marks a critical step from early traction toward achieving sustainable scale in one of the region's most challenging environments.