KARACHI: Retailo, a business-to-business start-up, has raised $36 million in its Series A investment round, which was a mix of equity and venture debt.

According to a press release on Tuesday, the startup that aims at digitising the retail supply chains in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP) has raised a total investment of $45m in less than a year and a half of operations.

The round was led by Silicon Valley–based Graphene Ventures, which was an early-stage investor of tech giants Snapchat and Lyft.

Graphene is joined by leading investors, including 500 Global, Agility, Aujan, Tech Invest Com and Mentor’s Fund. All of them have the relevant exposure and investments in the retail industry’s technology companies, the statement added.

The venture debt was raised from Nahda Fund, one of the Middle East’s first venture debt funds backed by Hong Kong–based IMM Investment Global. Additionally, Sho­r­ooq Partners, Aber­cross Holdings, Arzan VC, AgFunder also participated in the round as repeat investors.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2022