Bangalore-based retail tech startup, Arzooo has raised $7.5 million in its Series A financing round led by American VC firm, WRVI Capital. The company says it will use the funds for “tech-upgradation and market expansion”.
Arzooo’s existing investors, 3Lines Venture Capital and UAE-based Jabbar internet also participated in the financing round.
Khushnud Khan, the co-founder of Arzooo, said, “Our strong growth over the past year is a testimony to the positive impact Arzooo has had on the business of physical retailers. The current fundraise will help us boost our Technology, Quality of service and reach to fulfill our goal of equipping each retail store with technology to grow and perform profitable business.”
Arzooo was founded back in 2018 by Khushnud Khan and Rishi Raj Rathore, ex-Flipkart employees and alumni from IIT Kharagpur. Arzooo offers a B2B platform where offline retail stores can buy goods for inventory in stock at a reasonable price. It also provides a delivery service, empowering physical retailers to grow and compete against the e-commerce giants in the country. The company’s Go Store platform seeks to provide solutions to problems of selection, price and complex supply chain & sourcing for offline retailers.
The retail tech startup claims to have catered to over 5000 partner stores since its inception. Arzooo’s service is spread across over 10 cities that include Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad. It has also introduced a new digital credit lending service called ‘Arzooo Credit’, which provides monetary credit to its physical partner stores. Physical retailers can borrow from Rs 1,00,000 – Rs 10,00,000 in credit through the service to help their businesses stay afloat and actively compete with the online retailers. Currently, the credit service is only available to Arzooo’s 5000 partner stores across 10 cities in the country.
As part of its plans for tech upgradation and market expansion, the startup is looking to ramp up its ‘Go Store’ platform and expand its operations in the Eastern and Western regions of India. The company has set a target to serve 50,000 retailers in 2021.
Sudhir Rao, Managing Partner WRVI Capital India said, ” Arzooo has in less than two years, though its initial focus on $50 Billion consumer durable segment, demonstrated a highly scalable product-market fit, especially in a country where local medium & small retailers dominate the market. Arzooo’s technology and localized demand-Supply integration offer great scalability to retail stores for both product expansion and profitability, which is a win-win for all.”
