Saudi-based DaaS Startup BARQ raises $4M SEED
The Saudi-based startup decentralizing Q-commerce propositions for businesses, BARQ raises $4M to offer diverse businesses with short-window on-demand delivery services.
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Saudi-based Delivery as a Service (DaaS) startup BARQ has successfully raised $4M in its latest funding round. The Seed round was led by OTF Jasoor Ventures and Hambro Perks Oryx Fund with participation from Sultan Holding, Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC), as well as strategic family offices and angel investors.
Founded in 2020, BARQ enables bullet delivery for any business. From e-commerce to food, e-groceries, and various sectors, BARQ utilizes its state-of-the-art delivery technologies to deliver orders as fast as 15 minutes up to same-day delivery service. With the acceleration of digital transformation, transition of businesses from retail to online, and increased demand from consumers for a better and faster delivery service, BARQ converts retail outlets to micro-fulfillment centers/dispatching hubs making delivery faster & easier. Once a customer places an order through the business platform, the order gets fulfilled by the closest retail outlet and delivered to the customer once ready for pick up known as Bullet Delivery.
Following the success of Turkey-based Getir, Pakistan-based Airlift, and Egypt-based Rabbit the Q-commerce craze has taken the spotlight over the recent year. As recorded in our State of Startup Funding- 2022 Emerging Venture Markets free report, the Transport & Logistics (T&L) sector in MENA climbed a rank to become the second-most funded sector in 2021. The 460% YoY growth in VC funding was led by Egypt-based Halan’s Mega Deal and driven by major rounds in T&L startups closed by the likes of iMile, Lyve Global, Trukkin, and Fenix. The Communications and Information Technology Commission in Saudi Arabia reported that delivery apps in the kingdom have grown by 460% in the past 2 years. While the T&L sector was overshadowed by major rounds in E-commerce led by Sary or Enterprise Software led by Unifonic as recorded in our KSA 2022 Venture Investment Report, a $50M fundraise announced by Saudi-based Nana just last week might change the game for the delivery industry in the kingdom over 2022.
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BARQ serves warehouses and fulfillment centers with several delivery options, 4hrs up to a same day or next day delivery window, depending on the business need. While restaurants and food aggregators enjoy 30-45 minute delivery service, paying only a delivery fee. Co-founder/CEO Abdullah AlShalhoub commented, “We’re on a mission to transform & automate overall business and consumer experience from order creation to delivery. We’ve identified a lot of inefficiencies across our served sectors and started with the toughest – Last mile”. Starting their careers as Strategy Consultants, Abdullah and Ahmad (Cofounders of BARQ), worked together at PwC and have decided to pursue the entrepreneurial path together. Co-founder/COO Ahmad Habbal commented, “Last mile has been a never-ending challenge for businesses. With our multi-vertical and flexible supply model, we’ve been able to increase efficiencies, ensure sustainability, and complement rather than compete with other players.”
The latest fund will be used to expand the company’s geographic footprint Kingdom-wide and increase product offering to provide a wider range of values to its customers across various sectors. “We pride ourselves as strategic partners for businesses and not service providers. We rely on data to identify market trends and develop solutions to cater to their needs” CBDO Mohammad AlMarwani continues. The BARQ team is providing an exciting opportunity for businesses across the Kingdom to explore fast delivery services that elevates their sales and turnover rates. In light of this recent investment, CTO Djakhongir Makhkamov concluded, “Technology is the heart of our startup; Our location-driven solutions built using machine learning, route optimization, process automation, and chatbots help optimize the delivery process and cater to their fast-growing business needs.”
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