Arzooo Raises $1M To Expand In India

B2B eCommerce platform Arzooo has raised $1 million (around Rs 6.95 crore) in a pre-Series A round of funding.

The funding was led by the United Arab Emirates-based Jabbar Internet Group, which was once the parent company of Middle Eastern eCommerce platform Souq.com. Souq was acquired by Amazon in 2017.

“Arzooo.com and its leadership team have understood the deep-rooted problems of the physical retailers limiting growth, against the backdrop of eCommerce today,” said Hussam Khoury, president of Jabbar Internet Group in the UAE, according to Yahoo Finance.

This latest round also saw participation from a variety of investors based out of India and the U.K. Arzooo will use the funding to expand its presence in India, as well as invest in product enhancement, recruiting new talent and strengthening its technological infrastructure.

Founded in 2016 by former Flipkart executives Khushnud Khan and Rishi Raj, Arzooo uses its mobile app, Arzooo Go Store, to offer brick-and-mortar retail stores a virtual inventory so they can sell their products to more customers.

“Addressing key challenges of selection and price in the consumer electronic retail segment, Arzooo.com is at the cusp of revolutionizing the space,” said Hussam. “We are confident that the Arzooo Go Store technology, when integrated across a broad category of retail, will have a positive impact on economies of scale. Backing this venture, we foresee a disruption in physical retail in India with an immediate impact on sustainable business in the traditional format of on-ground touch-and-feel sales, better leveraged by technology,” says Hussam.

“Not only are our retailers empowered with increased earnings, they are now on the same pedestal to compete with eCommerce giants,” Khan added.

Last year, Arzoo raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from investment firm Omphalos Ventures India. At the time, the company operated as a reverse auction-based eCommerce platform.