The Saudi-based on-demand automotive marketplace, Syarah, has successfully raised $20 million in its latest funding round. The Series B investment round was co-led by Impact 46 and Elm company with the participation of Budget (United International Transportation Co.), Vision Ventures, and angel investor Yousef Al-Rashidi, the founder of Haraj.

Syarah provides a unique hassle-free solution for online car shopping, in addition to its full support and quality assurance operations. Through their online platform, users can choose from a wide selection of cars, book on-demand, and have them delivered straight to their homes. With the high demand for online car buying, Syarah has expanded its offering by selling used cars as well in 2019, along with complimentary inspection and guarantee servicing. 

The transport sector in the region has been witnessing remarkable growth in VC funding. Recently,  Egypt’s Odiggo, raised a $2.2 million Seed round, UAE-based Invygo raised $2.9 million in Series A, and Swvl’s announced it IPO through merging with an American SPAC bringing it to unicorn status.

Salah Sharef and Fayez Al-Anazi founded Syarah in 2015 to provide users with a wide selection of more than 2,300 new and used cars available on-demand. The $20 million investment comes as a market and tech validation to the Saudi-based startup as Co-Founder Fayez Al-Anazi highlighted “Syarah’s technology-focused model has been a huge fuel to the growth of the platform exceeding 300 million SAR in sales and a rapid growth rate within a very short period. As the platform continues to improve its services in the local market, Syarah is planning to expand its operation in the MENA region.”

Syarah’s warehouse represents a milestone in its development efforts, aiming to increase its stock to more than 1,000 vetted and reconditioned used cars available to collect on the platform. In light of this recent investment, Abdulaziz Al-Omran, Managing Partner of Impact 46 commented “The platform is targeting a largely fragmented market in the Kingdom and it has created an opportunity within by providing digital solutions that cater to the consumer trends and facilitates the process of buying cars online. We’re proud to continue the journey with Syarah led by Salah and Fayez in expanding their footprint to new markets.”

The Sauidi-based startup plans to utilize its newly acquired funds to broaden its offering, providing further complementary services and strengthening its operations by establishing its own distribution centers in Saudi Arabia, as well as to expand to new markets across the region. Salah Sharef, Co-Founder and CEO of Syarah concluded “We have successfully sold more than 6,000 cars online so far, and with this new investment, we intend to significantly grow our inventory and sales over the next few months.”