Business

Ecommerce platform for office supplies, OfficeRock.com announced recently that it secured $800,000 in seed funding, from Jabbar Internet Group, Wamda Capital, and other regional and global financiers.

The ecommerce market in the UAE is approximated to be worth $2.5 billion and is expected to grow to $10 billion by 2018, so startups operating in this sector are getting financiers' interest.

Cofounded by Rami Al Saleh and Christopher Queitsch, OfficeRock.com was searching for strategic financiers with a performance history of ecommerce financial investments to assist grow their company.

"They have a great group and an unique company model for our region," Jabbar chairman Samih Toukan said in a statement.

Jabbar has developed a few of the area's most effective ecommerce platforms such as Souq.com, CashU, and Maktoob which was bought by Yahoo! in 2009.

"OfficeRock.com will alter the way companies procure in the area. They strive to develop an ecommerce platform that exceeds expectations and transforms traditional operations, their vision for the future is what will lead them there," stated Fares Ghandour of Wamda Capital.

When it was founded in 2011, the business offered office supplies for hotels, healthcare facilities and banks. A partnership with Xerox Emirates in 2012 enabled the business to end up being a licensed reseller and this opened doors to other collaborations such as South Africa's National Stationery, a supplier of brands such as Walmart stationery items and GPI toners, a publicly traded Taiwanese toner producer.

The company started developing its own ecommerce platform in 2013.
Only providing to the UAE now, OfficeRock.com owns its own 6,000 square foot warehouse facility with delivery trucks, vans and vehicles.

"The goal is to offer consumers a full-range, online catalogue with e-procurement abilities," stated cofounder Christopher Queitsch in a declaration.

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