From Spare-Parts Chaos to an Automotive Market Infrastructure | Emad Daghreri | Founder of Autobia | Sadu Podcast
In this episode of the Sadu Podcast, we host Imad Daghreri, Co-founder of Autobia, and together we dive into the backstage of one of the most complex and underrated sectors in our everyday lives: the automotive spare-parts market.
We’ve all lived the same scenario: your car breaks down, you start the usual loop—visiting the industrial area, making endless calls, searching for the right part, comparing prices, and still not knowing whether the part even fits your car.
This is where Autobia’s journey began: from a simple spare-parts marketplace… to building the infrastructure for supply chains and financing within the auto-parts ecosystem.
In this episode, you and Imad explore:
How Autobia started as an online parts marketplace and evolved into an infrastructure platform connecting suppliers with retail shops
A simple breakdown of Autobia’s three core products:
Wholesale & retail spare-parts marketplace
Qasima Plus: a financing solution that helps shops buy more expensive parts more easily
Accounts-management tools that organize payables and reduce locked cash between suppliers and retailers
A map of the spare-parts market in Saudi Arabia: agents, suppliers, retail shops, and how inventory and decision-making flow between all players
Why the spare-parts sector is uniquely complex, and how the rise of Chinese cars, the surge in minor accidents, and the shortage of certain parts have reshaped the entire market
How Autobia uses data to improve procurement, predict demand, and replace random calling and searching with precise, automated supplier-retailer matching
The founder journey of Imad and Ahmed:
How a consulting background + a finance background came together to build an operational–financial–technical solution
Autobia’s team-building philosophy: “Business first, then specialization”
Stories of hiring university students and developing them through real, meaningful projects
Practical lessons from their fundraising journey:
Why you shouldn’t raise money before you’re ready
How fundraising becomes a full-time job
And how to handle rejection as a natural part of the process—not the end of the road
If you’re interested in entrepreneurship in traditional sectors, or you work in automotive, insurance, logistics, or simply want to understand how this massive market works behind the scenes… this episode will open your eyes to the world beyond “the industrial area.”
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