The news:
- Eze, a B2B marketplace for new and used electronics, raises $3.7 million.
- The funding round was led by Right Side Capital Management, with participation from other VCs and angel investors.
- The startup plans to use the funding to expand into new markets in Africa, Europe and South America.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Eze, which is pronounced "easy", was founded by Joshua Nzewi and David Iya in 2020.
Before they founded Eze, Nzewi and Iya sold $8 million worth of devices, two years after they decided to become second-hand electronic traders.
This isn't surprising because the refurbished and used smartphone market was valued at $49.9 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $143.8 billion in 2031.
Nigeria spent $2.3 billion between 2019 and 2021 importing smartphones alone. If we add other electronics to the mix, the country spent over $3 billion on electronics in 2021 alone.
However, there's a key problem within the new and used electronic market Eze wants to solve.
It said, "The process of buying and selling these devices in wholesale quantities remains heavily manual, especially in emerging markets."
Trading is done via WhatsApp and WeChat, which Eze said, "leads to various inefficiencies and adds to the cost burden for buyers which they typically pass on to consumers."
Its solution is a marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of wholesale electronics. The buyers make their orders on the platform, pay, and get their goods delivered as quickly as the next day depending on where the order was made.
While Nigeria is its biggest market, Eze said it has operations in 50 countries, including the US, UK, and South Africa. It has also sold 500,000 devices with a 1% default rate since it started. A feat that can be attributed to its physical inspection of all devices before it goes on the platform.
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"We believe that Eze has the potential to revolutionise the wholesale electronics marketplace," This is what Chris Cunningham of C2 Ventures — one of the investors in Eze's $3.7 million seed funding — said about the startup.
In addition to Right Side Capital Management who led the round, Boro Capital, EVPI Investments also participated in the round.
Eze's plan now is to use the funding to "develop its technology infrastructure, broaden its product offering and expand into new markets in Africa, Europe and South America."
