Investor Data Room · Confidential
THE SOCIAL
DISCOVERY LAYER
FOR NIGHTLIFE
DISCOVERY LAYER
FOR NIGHTLIFE
Portl connects the next generation with experiences — and connects venues with the audience that matters most.
⬤ Confidential
58,602 users · 100+ venues · Dubai, UAE · Data as of 16 Mar 2026
Overview
INVESTMENT THESIS
Portl is the social discovery and booking layer for nightlife in Dubai — connecting users to events, and connecting venues to the premium female demographic they pay to reach.
We sit above operational tooling (SevenRooms, etc.) at the demand generation layer. Venues pay for customers, not software. 58,602 users. 100+ venues. 160,983 bookings. All organic, one city.
Discovery layer
86% female
UAE-first
15× growth in 12mo
42% booking conversion
Market
Dubai premium nightlife · $150BN+ global SOM scaling to hospitality & experiences
Revenue model
Venue retainers + 10% GMV commission + VIP subscriptions
Moat
Network effect — female supply attracts male spend; data density compounds with scale
Use of Seed Round
Activation, retention, male monetisation in UAE before international
Path to Series A
Proven UAE model → London, Dublin, Marbella expansion
Live Data · 16 Mar 2026
TRACTION SCORECARD
Total Users
58,602
85,000+ downloads
↑ 5,500/mo avg
MAU (Feb 2026)
9,219
Last full month
↑ 6× in 7 months
Total Bookings
160,983
All time
42% ever booked
Power Users
4,312
10+ bookings each
63% of all GMV
Repeat Bookers
17,098
Booked 2+ times
Avg per Booker
6.6×
Among transacting users
Female Users
86%
50,192 / 58,633
Premium demo
UAE Users
28,956
49% of total base
Core market
Acquisition
GROWTH TRAJECTORY
Monthly active users and signups through February 2026. Organic growth with no paid acquisition at scale.
Monthly Active Users (MAU)
Unique logins by month · Apr 2025 – Feb 2026 · 6× growth in 7 months
Monthly Signups
All-time registrations by month · inflection in Feb 2025 marks PMF signal
Growth by period
Monthly signup volume at key milestones
Pre-2025 avg/mo~400
Q1 2025 avg/mo2,100
Q2 2025 avg/mo3,450
Q4 2025 avg/mo5,985
Jan 2026 (peak)6,515
15× growth from Jan 2025 → Jan 2026. Summer dip (Jun–Aug) is structural to Dubai's calendar — predictable and plannable.
Retention
COHORT ANALYSIS
Booking conversion improves every cohort. 6-month retention is comparable to Eventbrite and Resy (15–25%) — expected for occasion-based platforms.
Booking conversion & 90-day retention by cohort
Each group represents a signup quarter. Booking rate = ever transacted. 90d active = logged in within 90 days of analysis date.
Booking conversion rate
90-day active rate
Note: Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 show elevated 90d retention as most users are still within their 90-day window.
Cohort detail
Settled cohorts only (pre-Q4 2025). Trend line is clearly improving.
| Cohort | Users | Ever Booked | Repeat (2+) | Active 90d | Active 30d | Status |
|---|
Long-run retention benchmarks
Portl vs occasion-based comparable platforms
Portl 6-month retention21.2%
Booking conversion (mature)~45%
Repeat purchase rate~33%
Industry benchmark (Eventbrite / Resy)15–25%
Booking rate trend
Successive cohorts convert at higher rates — product is improving
Engagement
USER SEGMENTATION
58% of users have never booked — this is the primary growth lever. The 13% of VIP+Power users driving ~75% of GMV represent a highly defensible core.
Booking frequency distribution
All 58,602 users by lifetime booking count
Segment breakdown
By engagement tier
Dormant (0 bookings)34,192 · 58%
Casual (1–2 bookings)11,169 · 19%
Regular (3–5 bookings)5,797 · 10%
Power (6–15 bookings)5,244 · 9%
VIP (16+ bookings)2,253 · 4%
VIP + Power combined
7,497 users → ~75% of GMV
Demographics
WHO USES PORTL
18–29 female, primarily UAE-based. This is the premium nightlife demographic — the cohort venues compete to attract.
Age distribution
Core: 18–29 (65% of base)
Gender split
86% female — commercially exceptional
Female 50,192 · Male 8,441
Top markets
By registered phone number · UAE is 49%
Financials
REVENUE MODEL
Three streams. Each defensible independently; combined they create a diversified, high-margin business. All figures in AED.
| Metric | 2026 Seed year | 2027 Scale year | 2028E Expansion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Venues | 80 | 160 | 275 |
| Blended Retainer / mo | AED 3,409 | AED 4,034 | AED 4,551 |
| Annual Retainer Revenue | AED 1.96M | AED 6.20M | AED 13.51M |
| Commission Revenue (GMV) | AED 864K | AED 2.65M | AED 5.89M |
| Subscription Net Revenue | AED 139K | AED 832K | AED 1.57M |
| Total Revenue | AED 2.97M | AED 9.68M | AED 20.98M |
Revenue composition over time
Stacked — retainers provide base, commission scales with GMV, subscriptions enhance margin
Financials
P&L FORECAST
Lean opex scaling intentionally. EBITDA positive by 2027 with ~45% margin target by 2028. All figures in AED.
| Metric | 2026 | 2027 | 2028E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | AED 2,966,328 | AED 9,677,424 | AED 20,977,523 |
| ↳ Retainer | AED 1,963,728 | AED 6,196,224 | AED 13,514,985 |
| ↳ Commission (GMV) | AED 864,000 | AED 2,649,600 | AED 5,891,738 |
| ↳ Subscriptions | AED 138,600 | AED 831,600 | AED 1,570,800 |
| Marketing Expense | AED 237,306 | AED 967,742 | AED 2,517,303 |
| Core Opex | AED 2,200,000 | AED 4,500,000 | AED 6,500,000 |
| Expansion / Legal | AED 200,000 | AED 500,000 | AED 800,000 |
| Total Opex | AED 2,637,306 | AED 5,967,742 | AED 9,817,303 |
| EBITDA | AED 329,022 | AED 3,709,682 | AED 11,160,220 |
| EBITDA Margin | 11.1% | 38.3% | 53.2% |
Revenue vs EBITDA trajectory
AED millions · EBITDA positive from 2026
ARR run-rate
Exit ARR at full venue capacity vs calendar year revenue
| Metric | 2026 | 2027 | 2028E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calendar Year Revenue | AED 2.97M | AED 9.68M | AED 21.0M |
| Exit Run-Rate ARR | AED 4.94M | AED 12.10M | AED 23.31M |
| ARR Growth YoY | — | +145% | +93% |
Exit ARR = full capacity annualised. Actual calendar revenue lower as venues ramp through year.
Sensitivity
2027 SCENARIO ANALYSIS
Base case uses model assumptions. Bull and bear vary venue growth, GMV per venue, and subscription adoption.
Bear Case
Conservative
AED 6.2M
2027 Total Revenue
Venues120
GMV growth+8% / yr
Subscription adoption2%
EBITDA margin~22%
Implied valuationAED 62–93M
Base Case
Model Forecast
AED 9.7M
2027 Total Revenue
Venues160
GMV growth+15% / yr
Subscription adoption3%
EBITDA margin38.3%
Implied valuationAED 97–145M
Bull Case
Upside
AED 14.2M
2027 Total Revenue
Venues200
GMV growth+22% / yr
Subscription adoption5%
EBITDA margin~48%
Implied valuationAED 142–213M
Valuations implied at 10–15× 2027 revenue multiple — typical Seed/Series A range for marketplace platforms at this growth rate and margin profile. AED/USD ~0.27.
Seed Round Deployment
USE OF FUNDS
Focused on three problems: activation, retention, and monetisation. No international expansion until the UAE model is proven and repeatable.
40%
Product & Engineering
Activation funnel, a-ha moment optimisation, retention features, male-targeted flows for table/group booking. Get users to first booking faster.
25%
CRM & Growth
Push, email, WhatsApp re-engagement at scale. Segment by behaviour, not just demographics. Convert the 34,000 dormant users sitting in the base.
20%
Sales & Venue Growth
Scale from 80 → 160+ active venues in UAE. Dedicated account management, self-serve onboarding tools, enterprise tier expansion.
15%
Operations & Runway
Legal, compliance, team scaling, and 18+ months of runway buffer. UAE density before expansion.
Risk Assessment
RISKS & MITIGATIONS
Activation gap
58% of users have never made a booking. The largest value leak in the business.
High
Priority 1. Seed round funds are explicitly targeted at activation funnel — CRM, product iteration, first-booking incentives. 34K dormant users is an asset if re-engaged correctly.
Summer seasonality
Dubai Jun–Aug typically sees 40–50% signup decline due to heat and outbound travel.
Medium
Predictable and plannable. Use off-season to run product sprints, re-engagement campaigns, and venue pipeline development. Not an existential risk.
Power user concentration
~13% of users drive ~75% of GMV. Churn in this cohort would be disproportionate.
Medium
VIP retention programme. Loyalty features, exclusive access, personalised venue matching. This cohort is highly engaged by definition — the risk is lower than the concentration implies.
Male demographic gap
14% male. Limits venue diversity and the table-spend monetisation model at scale.
Medium
Strategic roadmap item. Group booking, table reservation flows designed with male intent in mind. The female audience is the acquisition hook — the male spend is the monetisation lever.
Competitive entry
A well-funded competitor entering Dubai nightlife discovery could commoditise the space.
Low
Network effect moat. 58K users + 100+ venues creates a data and liquidity advantage that takes years to replicate. First-mover in a focused geographic market with strong social graph density.