Nuwa Capital has led a pre-Series B round in Dubai-based automotive online platform Seez. The $5 million round was twice oversubscribed and includes Germany’s Crealize, BY Venture Partners, Alfa Partners Holding, as well as angel investors. The company will use the capital to continue its immediate expansion into Europe.
At the forefront of digitizing the car buying experience
Launched in 2016 by Tarek Kabrit and Andrew Kabrit, Seez has leveraged its expertise and deep relationships within the automotive industry to develop a portfolio of products enabling automotive manufacturers and dealers to fully digitize their business.
While interest in car ownership is rising globally, an increasing number of prospective buyers are looking for a digital-first purchasing experience, both trends clearly accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Global chip shortage has also sent used car prices skyrocketing, with the average transaction price up 21% year-over-year between Q2 2020 and Q2 2021, according to Edmunds.
A homegrown company with global potential
Early into its journey, Seez capitalized on its marketplace product to supply GCC car dealerships with business intelligence tools providing analytics and car pricing data. This has allowed the team to build strong relationships with automotive dealers and others in the space, including the Dubai government, with whom the company landed an exclusive contract to build a blockchain-powered digital car registration journey. The team then built a comprehensive suite of products, essentially positioning it as the “Shopify” for automotive dealers and manufacturers.
“What we love about Seez is that Tarek and the team are pre-empting the disruption coming to traditional auto dealership and allowing them to bridge the digital divide. The company also has the opportunity to scale on a global basis, something we rarely see coming out of the MENA region,” said Khaled Talhouni, managing partner at Nuwa Capital.
Seez’s core SaaS offering and multiple modules covering order management, dealer management, ERP, and integrations with insurance and financing partners constitute an out-of-the-box solution for automotive dealers. The company complements its multi-pronged digitization approach with its existing marketplace product, which allows its clients to showcase their inventory while offering buyers access to trusted, dealer-certified listings and a fully digital purchasing experience.
"We’re excited to be one of the few companies from the Middle East to be expanding to Europe and creating one of Europe’s first omnichannel experiences in car buying. We’re also really grateful to our backers who believed in us for this round, and some of whom have been with us from day one," said co-founder and CEO Tarek Kabrit.
Seez has already signed a partnership with Hessel, the largest Mercedes dealer in Denmark for new and used cars, and will be continuing to expand its footprint in the European market in the next months.
