BILLZ announced that it has raised a new round of funding from international institutional investors. The round was led by venture capital firm Quest Ventures and included participation from Sturgeon Capital, a London-based VC fund that invests in emerging markets.
BILLZ is a retail management software powered with POS, inventory management, CRM, e-commerce and analytics for small and medium-sized businesses. It helps to save time on daily retail operations and sell more by using marketing tools and analytics. Additionally, it helps to integrate the products with marketplaces, Facebook & Instagram shops to sell their products online.
The majority of retail businesses in developing countries are not well-structured and automated. They have problems with data disconnects, unmanaged processes, lack of digital education, and low access to financial services.
BILLZ is already used by more than 800 retail locations in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and, Tajikistan. The team is planning to continue satisfying its customers by developing new products and features. The investment will be used to expand the team of developers, increase marketing, and extend the service into the CIS region with a focus on Kazakhstan. Extension to the new verticals, and launch of improved e-commerce solutions, and financial services are planned for this year.
Subscriptions for small and medium-sized businesses cost from ~$18 per month.
“Small and medium-sized retailers are lacking access to expensive technology and facing challenges in a digital world. Our solution can tackle this problem and help retailers grow their offline businesses using powerful technology and sell products online. We are happy and thankful to Quest Ventures and Sturgeon Capital who believed in our product and team and are supporting us in this journey. We will use investments to scale our product, expand the team and improve our presence on the CIS market with focus on Kazakhstan.” said Mr. Rustam Khamdamov, Co-Founder and CEO of BILLZ.
The $650,000 investment will accelerate the adoption of BILLZ across the region and thereby provide extensive support to businesses everywhere.
“BILLZ is a great example of how digitalization and automation in retail can be improved at scale. It empowers employees to focus on more value-added functions, increases efficiency, and uplifts employability,” said Mr James Tan, Managing Partner of Quest Ventures, who will join the board of directors of BILLZ.
The company had previously raised a $150,000 round from Sturgeon Capital.
Robin Butler, Investor director at Sturgeon Capital, said, “Sturgeon first invested in BILLZ in 2020, and since then the founders and company have continued to deliver the quality of execution that led us to invest in the first place. BILLZ is solving a key pain point for small retailers, who are underserved by technology and financial services in every market, and we believe BILLZ can become the leading SaaS business in the region.”
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