Dubai e-commerce platform Sprii goes into liquidation after failing to raise more capital

Dubai-based online marketplace for mothers and children, Sprii, has hired Guy Wall of Grant Thornton as the company’s liquidator after its dual quest of raising additional funding and selling the business, went south.

A board resolution passed on December 6 has formally placed the company into liquidation.

‘I have been advised that the liquidator is currently undertaking an urgent financial assessment of the business to determine its ability to enter into an accelerated sale campaign. In the interim, all ongoing trading of the business will cease until this assessment is completed,” read a letter by founder and CEO Sarah Jones.

“If a sale of the business is not possible, I will be working hard to rehouse all of our team,” she added.

In H1 2019, Sprii raised $8.5m in funding, raising its total secured investment to more than $13m at the time.

Read: Dubai-based Sprii.com raises $8.5m in latest funding round

Sprii joins other e-commerce platforms that have shut shop during the year, as the Covid-19 pandemic particularly hammered small businesses.

In April, Dubai’s fashion e-commerce startup The Modist announced that it had decided to shut down its business after it reportedly raised more than $15m in venture capital.

Meanwhile in July, UAE-based Al Tayer Group closed its online fashion platform Nisnass, which featured brands such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, Nike and Puma.

Read also: UAE online fashion platform Nisnass closing down, confirms Al Tayer Group

More recently, Dubai e-commerce platform Awok ended its operations a year after closing a $30m funding round, citing the global economic downturn as the primary reason.

Read: UAE e-commerce platform Awok shuts shop after securing $30m funding