London B2B marketplace raises $5m to shakeup “broken” wholesale infrastructure

A London B2B marketplace has raised $5m in a funding round as it aims for expansion.

Creoate aims to help retailers forecast which products will fly off its virtual shelves in order to buy and manage inventory levels as efficiently as possible.

Since its launch in January 2020, the platform has seen more than 25,000 retailers signing up in the past 6 months.

The round was led by Fuel Ventures with participation from Vinted founder, Justas Janauska and the 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.

The company now serves over 50,000 retailers in 10 countries, providing more than two-third of retailers’ monthly stock, and is set for 6x growth by the end of the year Fahad Khan, co-founder, Creoate, said: “I saw first-hand working in financial services how little data is used today to make inventory decisions, which locks out millions of businesses from financial inclusion.

“That’s where we believe technology can add the most value, by empowering businesses to be more resilient and make better money.

“By focusing on how 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’s not one or the other.”

Ashley Horn, co-founder, Creoate added: “Sourcing brands as an independent retailer is close to impossible, an experience I went through myself when running a multi-brand retail shop in London.

“It felt like the barriers were so high for an independent business to thrive even though there was so much demand from consumers.”

Mark Pearson, founder and managing partner at Fuel Ventures commented: “Unless you’re 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 Creoate serves.

“We are captivated by Creoate’s technology which is inspired by the founding team’s real-world experience and empathy.

“Creoate’s incredible growth, despite a severely challenging economic environment is clear evidence of the must-have value it provides to independent businesses.”