B2B PLATFORM RETAILO RAISES $2.3M IN ONE OF THE LARGEST PRE-SEED FUNDING OF MENAP

Launching from stealth mode, Retailo announced one of MENAP’s largest pre-seed rounds of $2.3 million to transform retail supply chains. The round was led by Shorooq  Partners, MENAP’s leading seed-stage VC, and joined by 500 Startups & 92-Ventures. The startup is  also backed by strategic angels from the region’s top startups and leading management consulting  firms. 

B2B E-commerce is a proven and exciting thesis with several successful unicorns globally. The space is currently in its hyper-growth phase and several players in it have raised significant capital from  reputed investors globally. Retailo’s technology and operations combine to deliver a strong value  proposition to retailers, manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers. It is focused on offering SMEs competitive pricing; a one-stop shop to discover products and the ability to order whatever they  need, whenever they need. Its immediate target market is informal grocery retailers (Bakalas and  Kiryanas) in KSA and Pakistan, currently valued at approximately $100 bn. Retailo will focus on KSA  as its home market and has begun operations with full force in Riyadh after proving its concept and  establishing a lead in the Pakistan market. 

The Company is led by three Co-Founders, Talha Ansari, Mohammad Nowkhaiz, and Wahaj Ahmed.  They each have an established track record of success in the startup ecosystem through their  experiences at Careem, Rocket Internet, Daraz, Foodpanda and Shopistan. Talha was the youngest  CEO at one of the Rocket Internet’s venture – foodpanda, at the age of 25. Then as Senior Director  Operations in Careem he scaled up the company’s last mile delivery business in KSA. Nowkhaiz was Careem’s Head of Strategy for the MENAP region and spearheaded the Super App strategy post Uber acquisition. Wahaj is an Ex-McKinsey consultant who was also the youngest Careem GM at 25 and  grew Careem’s Karachi business by 10x in just 8 months. 

The co-founders’ vision is to create maximum societal impact. “We strongly believe in creating  impact in the lives of people by giving them opportunities to improve their earning potential. The  MENAP region has a significant opportunity to increase its economic prosperity by unlocking the  productivity delta that exists between the region and global benchmarks. MENAP is home to 700  million individuals & 10 million SMEs; and its unorganized retail sector presents the perfect  opportunity to increase the efficiency of supply chain by utilizing technology and real-time data.” said the founders.  

Retailo marks another key investment led by Shorooq Partners, focused on supporting early stage  companies led by exceptional founders who are building long lasting solutions to transform MENAP region. “Seed stage investing is all about backing the right people. We have looked at this space  deeply and are proud to invest in the dream team behind Retailo who we believe can successfully  build a strong, regional and international business.” said the Founding Partner Shane Shin. Keeping  the economic impact in mind, Khailee Ng, Managing Partner, 500 Startups said, “While they operate  one of the fastest-scaling business models in the world, their success means millions of SMEs and rural populations are more productive and have more stability and food security. Technology can  impact the next billion, and we’re already seeing it here with what Retailo had been doing.”  

Retailo’s mission is to enable the 10 million SMEs concentrated in MENAP region by empowering  them with technology and real-time data to make complex supply chains “beautifully  uncomplicated”. This represents around $ 500 bn of annual spending and thus a huge growth  opportunity for Retailo.