Arzooo, a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform floated by two former Flipkart executives, has raised $1 million (around Rs 6.95 crore) in a pre-Series A round of funding.
The startup said in a statement that the round was led by the United Arab Emirates-based Jabbar Internet Group, which was once the parent company of Middle Eastern e-commerce platform Souq.com. Amazon acquired Souq in 2017.
A consortium of investors based out of India and the UK also contributed to Arzooo’s latest funding round, the statement added.
Arzooo said that it will use the fresh funding to expand its India presence as well as invest in product enhancement, recruiting new talent and strengthening its technological infrastructure.
Arzooo was founded in 2016 by former Flipkart executives Khushnud Khan and Rishi Raj.
The company uses its mobile application, Arzooo Go Store, to offer physical retail stores a virtual inventory to let them sell their products to a wider range of customers.
“Not only are our retailers empowered with increased earnings, they are now on the same pedestal to compete with e-commerce giants,” Khan said.
In May last year, the company raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from early-stage investment firm Omphalos Ventures India. At the time, Arzooo operated as a reverse auction-based e-commerce platform.
At Flipkart, Khan set up the large appliance business and later worked on setting up the e-commerce firm’s grocery business, ‘Nearby’.
Raj was a key member of the team that built FQuick, a hyperlocal logistics platform, and later worked on Nearby as well.
