Ex-Careem execs’ startup lands $36m in series A 💰

Saudi Arabia-based Retailo, a B2B ecommerce startup, has raised US$36 million in its series A financing via a mix of equity and venture debt.

Retailo founders (From left): Muhammad Nowkhaiz, Talha Ansari, and Wahaj Ahmed / Photo credit: Retailo

Graphene Ventures, which backed tech giants Snapchat and Lyft, led Retalio’s latest round. Investors like 500 Global, Agility, and Aujan also took part.

Meanwhile, the venture debt portion of the raise came from Nahda Fund, which is backed by Hong Kong-based IMM Investment Global.

Retailo aims to help small business owners by building a commerce platform where the B2B community can find a wide catalog of over 5,000 stock keeping units, which are delivered to their doorsteps in less than 24 hours.

The startup also allows small business owners to avail buy now, pay later services, as well as timely supply, competitive rates, and easy credit. Retailo also optimizes end-to-end logistics in the supply chain through its warehousing operations and smart fleet management solutions.

The company offers its sellers a cross-border distribution platform across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. It also provides data analytics tools to help sellers evaluate sales performance and consumption trends.

Former Careem executives Talha Ansari, Wahaj Ahmed, and Mohammad Nowkhaiz founded Retalio in July 2020.

“As global supply chains come under stress, pushing up commodity prices and depressing GDP growth, the value of smart supply chains becomes even more important,” said Ansari.

In the Middle East, the ecommerce market is expected to go past the US$27 billion mark by 2025, as more consumers turn to online channels for their shopping needs amid the pandemic.

With the latest investment, Retalio has raised a total of US$45 million to date.

Other investors in the round include:

• Tech Invest Com
• Mentor’s Fund
• Shorooq Partners
• Abercross Holdings
• Arzan VC
• AgFunder