Dubai-Based Lifestyle And Healthcare E-Commerce Startup souKare Raises Seed Funding This is the startup's first fundraising round involving external investors.
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souKare.com, a Dubai-based lifestyle and healthcare e-commerce platform, has raised US$400,000 in seed funding from GCC-based angel investors including CEOs, partners and senior management professionals belonging to consulting firms, private equity, and startups, among others. This is the startup's first fundraising round involving external investors.
Launched initially as an online store for contact lenses in the UAE, souKare subsequently piloted to deal in fitness and other lifestyle items, and is now currently live in the UAE and KSA. The company believes that its unique value proposition "lies in its customer centric approach, including 90-minute home delivery for all in-stock items within Dubai, and express shipping worldwide."
"Going forward, with the funding proceeds, our first goal would be to maintain and further optimize our highly reviewed customer experience, and secondly to expand the product collection," says Faraz Khan, founder and CEO, souKare.com, speaking about the investment. "This would involve further broadening the fitness category, as well as including more products to complete the healthcare and lifestyle segment needs. Geographic expansion is also on the roadmap, primarily across the broader MENA region."
Providing access to a portfolio of brands such as Acuvue, Solotica, Bella, Optimum Nutrition, and many others, entrepreneur Khan takes pride in the ease of ordering, the 90-minute delivery premise, multiple payment options, and the after-sales support that souKare.com provides its users. "There are currently no companies offering the same product mix or service level commitment as souKare," he says. "The online website experience, instant calls to customers for order confirmation, delivery scheduling, and real-time delivery are unmatched in the market, ultimately differentiating souKare from other lifestyle/health e-commerce enterprises."
Khan also points out that the e-commerce portal committed to 90-minute delivery for all in-stock items within Dubai, from day 1 of their launch, and have been fulfilling it through a number of highly optimized processes. "These include our delivery confirmation process where every customer is called as soon as the order is placed to schedule delivery; our dedicated fleet of bikers are then dispatched through a customized dispatch process that enables them to fulfill the orders within the given timeframe," he explains.
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