OfficeRock.com Raises Funds From Enabling Future, Jabbar Internet Group, And Other Investors A boost for the B2B e-commerce market, office supplies platform OfficeRock.com has raised an undisclosed amount from investors Enabling Future, Wamda Capital, Jabbar Internet Group, WOMENA, and more investors
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A boost for the B2B e-commerce market, office supplies platform OfficeRock.com has raised an undisclosed amount from investors Enabling Future, Wamda Capital, Jabbar Internet Group, WOMENA, Camac Partners, and several angel partners. The startup had initially raised US$500,000 in a seed funding round with the same investors in April 2016. Launched in 2011, OfficeRock.com was founded by Christopher Queitsch along with Rami Al Saleh, who noticed that the corporate supply market had a fragmented market, having a variety of supplies options, and thus decided to offer a one-stop solution to cover everything from stationary to cleaning materials, furniture and breakroom supplies on a single platform. Utilizing technology to ease the process between suppliers and corporate customers, and offering the convenience similar to B2C online shopping, the founders aimed to provide the same experience for B2B with OfficeRock.com, and tailored features to suit business needs such as approvals, budgets, and track spending.
After a partnership with Xerox Emirates in 2012, OfficeRock became an authorized reseller, followed by more partnerships, including National Stationary, a South Africa-based stationary wholesaler, as well as Aramex. Using capital from previous investment rounds, OfficeRock reinvested it in digital marketing and data analytics, which, according to the team, has enabled the startup to reach order sizes that is more than three times the industry average and now has a solid clientele including Souq.com, Aramex, British Petroleum, Zurich insurance and Abu Dhabi Ports, as well as a client retention rate that is almost double than the industry average. The startup's growth trajectory so far is certainly one of the factors that motivated investors to invest in the startup on the current round, which will, according to its release, "act as a bridge for getting to the Series A round in the next six months." Jabbar Internet Group Chairman Samih Toukan notes that with the startup's business model evolving alongside its strong leadership team, OfficeRock is now poised for "explosive growth going forward." On the other hand, Wamda Capital Partner Fares Ghandour pointed toward the startup's potential plus the platform's technical advances and quality of operations as key details that influenced the investment decision.
Along with the new funding round, OfficeRock.com has also included on its team a new CEO, Kivanc Arkac, whose background spans 20 years on building companies such as Foodonclick.com and Moneywatches.com. Arkac says that he aims for OfficeRock to be more than a supplier, as a partner to "help businesses in effectively managing their procurement processes." Besides expanding its team and moving to a new office, Arkac says they're also aiming to build a procurement software platform for customers to access to. Drawing on its USP of providing an efficient experience for the B2B e-commerce market, with that focus, and the right tech, Arkac asserts that OfficeRock is ready to scale its operations across GCC, and beyond.
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