Wamda invests in UAE’s automotive platform Seez

Venture capital (VC) firm Wamda has invested in UAE-based automotive startup Seez, it announced on Monday.

Seez raised $6m in its Series A funding round to grow and access the $10bn online used-automotive industry in the UAE and other MENA (Middle East and North Africa) markets, a statement said.

Wamda has invested in UAE-based startup Seez @Seez_App, which raised $6 million in its Series A funding round. https://t.co/spOyUg9ckj pic.twitter.com/26bYu5zYIZ

— Wamda ومضة (@WamdaME) February 17, 2020

The round, which was oversubscribed by five times, roped in an investment pool which included German VC Crealize, Lebanon-based B&Y Venture Partners, Phoenician Funds and several angel investors as well as other strategic automotive partners.

The Seez mobile app, offers a smart search engine for car listings and proprietary, AI-fueled pricing and negotiation tools. Having more than a million users, the app has almost 500,000 cars listed on its platform available across five countries.

The capital raise will enable the startup to launch a service that will lend a digital, cross-border car shopping experience to its users, facilitating people in other countries to buy cars from the UAE using the app.

In 2019, close to 275,000 second-hand cars were sold in the UAE, of which almost half were for export, the statement said.

“Seez is working to support the automotive industry in the UAE by leveraging synergies across various regional countries, in an effort to further cross-border economic integration in Mena,‘’ said Fadi Ghandour, executive chairman, Wamda.

“From the very beginning, we have been using technology to change how people shop for cars,” said Tarek Kabrit, CEO, Seez.

“During the first three years, we focused on building our product and growing our user base. Now, we are leveraging this platform and using it as a launchpad for all these exciting new services we want to launch.”

The automotive startup raised $3.2m in two erstwhile rounds, bringing its total funding to $9.2m.

In Q4 2019, Wamda invested in UAE-based fintech startup Tabby, to leverage the payments landscape across the MENA region.

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