• UAE-based logistics startup Shorages has raised a Seed round of $700,000. 
• Founded in 2019 by Rayan Osseiran, Shorages provides fulfilment centres around the UAE for e-commerce platforms to receive inventory and dispatch orders across the GCC region.
• The latest round will be used for local expansion and hiring as the company plans to launch more warehouses in the UAE.

Press release:

Shorages, a UAE-based e-commerce fulfilment startup, announced on January 11, 2022, that it has raised a seed round of $700,000 to enable international e-commerce brands to tap into the GCC market. 

Shorages, which launched its fulfilment services in December 2019, offers brands the digital, regulatory and warehouse infrastructure needed to unlock online sales in the GCC. Its fulfilment centres around the UAE are prepared to receive inventory and dispatch orders across the GCC region.

Over the past two years, Shorages supported several brands launch and scale their online business at a time when a lot of brands were transitioning towards e-commerce. They recently secured agreements to partner with multiple highly recognised international brands for 2022 including a US-based brand aggregator that has achieved $500 million+ in revenue abroad.

The latest seed round will primarily be used for local expansion and hiring as the company plans to launch more warehouses in the UAE. In particular, the company is working on a freezone warehousing solution that would reduce the cost of shipping for their brands. Shorages is also looking to expand its team of developers to further grow its order fulfilment and inventory management systems.

How does Shorages work?

 First, Shorages receives inventory in one of their fulfilment centres in the UAE. Once done, Shorages will integrate their order fulfillment system with a brands’ website. After that, once an order is received on the website, Shorages’ fulfillment team will pick and pack orders before dispatching them with the last-mile courier for delivery across the GCC. The company offers this service across multiple order types such as Amazon FBA, FBM, Noon, and website orders.

In addition to the above, the company acts as a distributor for certain key brands they partner with. Shorages CEO Rayan Osseiran adds: “At Shorages, we have realized how time-consuming and costly it is for direct-to-consumer brands to set up a local operation. As such, we have made it our mission to build the fulfilment and distribution services needed for a quick and cost-effective springboard into the market”.

The round was led by Mayfair Holdings, the family office of Mr Sudhir Maheshwari, alongside other angel investors and serial entrepreneurs. Sudhir Maheshwari noted: “Our investment into Shorages was a result of our conviction in this disruptive retail model as well as our belief in the team to execute upon this vision.” Shorages is also a MBRIF and Startup Bootcamp Accelerator alumnus.