An听online marketplace听aiming听to democratise听access to听wholesale听goods for independent retailers has raised 拢3.6 million seed funding.听
Creoate听leverages artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to help retailers forecast which products will fly off its virtual shelves in order to buy and manage inventory levels as efficiently as possible.听
The seed round听was听led by Fuel听Ventures with participation from Vinted founder听Justas听Janauskas.听听
Since launch in January 2020,听more than 50,000 retailers in 10 countries have joined the platform.听Its听team has similarly grown four-fold in the last six months to meet demand and is on track to more than double by the end of 2021.听听
鈥淪ourcing听brands as an independent retailer is close to impossible, an experience I went through myself when running a multi-brand retail shop in London,鈥澨齭aid听Creoate听co-founder Ashley Horn.听听
鈥淭here are over 30 million brands on Instagram and it’s getting cheaper to听launch a new听product,听but听knowing what to buy as a retailer is extremely risky, expensive and time-consuming.听听
鈥淭o make matters worse, all the banks I talked to didn鈥檛 want to finance听inventory听so we were turning to expensive credit cards with 18-30% rates just听to pay for goods.听听
鈥淚t felt like the barriers were so high for an independent business to thrive even though there was so much demand from consumers. We could see that this system was not sustainable and there had to be a better way.鈥澨�听
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The听startup听is led by an experienced team who have worked at or invested in听Farfetch, Ocado, Lyst,听Swiggy听and Deloitte,听and also听grew up in families that owned retail businesses.听听
Using听their experience building financial products for SMEs and running retail shops,听the founders say they听unlocked marketplace liquidity by completely removing the sourcing and finance problem for both brands and retailers. Each brand on the听Creoate platform is then听personally curated by an in-house team of buyers to make sure they come from a group of diverse, representative, inclusive, creative and skilled businesses from all corners of the country.听听
鈥淔or听as long as Mom and Pop shops, like those run by my family, have existed, they have been faced with poor information, discriminatory pricing and unpredictable cash flows,鈥� said co-founder Fahad Khan.听听
鈥淚 saw first-hand working in financial services how little听data is used today to make inventory decisions, which locks out millions of businesses from financial inclusion. That鈥檚 where we believe technology can add the most value, by empowering businesses to be more resilient and make better money.听听
鈥淏y focusing on how听inventory is bought and financed, we are building an omni-channel future where offline consumer shopping brings the best out of online business-to-consumer commerce. It鈥檚 not one or the other.鈥�听
Creoate听has built a suite of B2B software tools for brands and wholesalers which听allows them to听start selling in just three clicks, without听having to rely on pen and paper or having to go through multiple layers of middlemen.听听
Once听a retailer has joined the听Creoate听community, it can browse and buy wholesale items from handpicked brands, as well as get access to听Creoate鈥檚听proprietary payment terms.听Its听data engine, Bifrost, uses proprietary marketplace data to make instant payment decisions for each retailer.听听
The听platform is also accelerating growth of the value-based economy, with the most popular categories on the platform being Fair Trade and Eco-Friendly.听It cites the example of听Jenny McCann, owner of Bear Bookshop in Bearwood,听who听turned to听Creoate听for a one-stop-shop听solution in sourcing brands and products that nurture creativity and fit her paper-based, plastic-free ethos.听听
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Creoate听says听retailers like听McCann听also听get recommendations about which products are likely to be the most popular among their specific听demographic. They can determine what price points听these products are most likely to sell at, what their current customer base are searching for, how best to appeal to new consumers and more trend-led suggestions.听听
鈥淯nless听you鈥檙e in the world of retail, it can be difficult to truly grasp just how broken the system is for the 2.5 million retailers and 30 million emerging brands that听Creoate听serves,鈥� said Mark Pearson, founder and managing partner at Fuel Ventures.听听
鈥淲e are captivated听by听Creoate鈥檚听technology which is inspired by the founding team鈥檚 real-world experience and empathy.听Creoate鈥檚听incredible growth, despite a severely challenging economic environment is clear evidence of the must-have value it provides to independent businesses.听听
鈥淲e at Fuel Ventures only invest in super ambitious hard-working founders and companies that have large global scale potential and with Ashley and Fahad, this is exactly what we have found.鈥�听
The听funding will be used to further grow key go-to-market teams, double down on traction in Europe and add more advanced tools and analytics to the platform.听