• STARTUPS •
By Nermeen Abbas
Going All In Careem alumni Wahaj Ahmed, Talha Ansari, and Muhammad Nowkhaiz, cofounders of Retailo, used the pandemic incentive to quit their jobs and launch their own tech-based startup. With $45 million in funding raised in just 18 months, they’re looking to buy-now-pay-later for their next growth spurt.
I
In July 2020, as the pandemic swept across the global supply chain and everyone went online, undeterred innovators began looking for opportunities in areas that technology had not yet fully saturated. Three former Careem employees, Wahaj Ahmed, Talha Ansari, and Muhammad Nowkhaiz were so convinced of the potential F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M
they saw in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce they quit their jobs to launch their own startup. Just 18 months later, in February 2022, they raised $36 million in a Series A funding round. “COVID-19 was such a big catalyst”, says Ansari, cofounder of Retailo. “We saw SME retailers struggling because of lack of technology while all the tech companies were thriving, and we wanted to enable community stores.” Retailo allows community stores to buy day-to-day inventory through a mobile app and have it delivered within 24 hours. Since it was established, it has attracted total funding of $45 million from investors, including Graphene
Wahaj Ahmed, Talha Ansari, and Muhammad Nowkhaiz quit their jobs during the pandemic to start their own business.
MARCH 2022
IMAGE FROM SOURCE
R E TA I LO
24
