Sary bets Saudi corner shops buy wholesale online; $112M and a ShopUp merger later

Saudi B2B marketplace connecting micro and small retailers (grocers, cafes, restaurants) with FMCG wholesalers and manufacturing brands through mobile and web apps, with logistics and embedded financing on top.

That Saudi corner shops would move wholesale buying online if a B2B marketplace added logistics and credit — with fintech, not commissions, as the revenue engine.

$112M raised by end-2022 ($30.5M Series B in May 2021, $75M Series C in Dec 2022); $110M equity-plus-financing backing for the merged SILQ Group in April 2025

Sary was founded in April 2018 by Mohammed Aldossary, a former Careem general manager, and Khaled Alsiari. Their premise: Saudi micro-retailers ordered stock through phone calls, WhatsApp and fragmented distributor networks with no price transparency or reliability, inside a retail market Aldossary estimated at $165 billion. The platform connected those shops directly to wholesalers and brands.

By May 2021 Sary had 100,000+ app installs and, during the pandemic alone, served 30,000+ verified retail businesses and moved 4 million tonnes of goods across Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. It raised a $30.5M Series B led by VentureSouq with Rocketship.vc, STV and existing backers Ra'ed Ventures, MSA Capital and Derayah, and announced plans to build native fintech products so revenue would not depend on marketplace commissions. In March 2022 it closed a $75M Series C, acquired Egypt's B2B marketplace Mowarrid to enter North Africa, and took a stake in Pakistan's Jugnu to enter South Asia. In April 2025 Sary merged with Bangladesh's ShopUp to form SILQ Group, backed by $110M led by Sanabil Investments (PIF) and Valar Ventures; the combined group had served 600,000+ retailers and hotels, restaurants and cafes, processed $5B+ in transactions, disbursed $750M+ in embedded financing and shipped 100 million orders.

Still scaling: as of April 2025 Sary operates as part of SILQ Group, pitched as the largest B2B commerce platform spanning the Gulf and South Asia, with Sanabil Investments and Valar Ventures putting $110M behind the merged entity.

Saudi small retailers bought FMCG stock through phone calls and fragmented distributors, leaving a digitizable gap that a marketplace with logistics could own.

Pandemic lockdowns forced 30,000+ small businesses onto the platform, proving the demand existed once friction was removed.

Embedded credit and payments, not commissions, became the planned revenue engine — turning the marketplace into a distribution channel for financial services.

M&A across MENAP (Mowarrid, Jugnu, then ShopUp) let the company export the playbook instead of fighting Saudi alone.

Become the middleman: digitize wholesale procurement for small shops, then convert the network into a credit and payments business rather than betting on marketplace commissions.

As of April 2025, Sary is part of SILQ Group following its merger with Bangladesh's ShopUp. The merged company, backed by $110M from Sanabil Investments (PIF) and Valar Ventures, claims to be the largest B2B commerce platform spanning the Gulf and South Asia, with 600,000+ retailers served, $5B+ in transactions, $750M+ in embedded financing and 100 million shipments since inception. Sary's earlier $112M of funding was raised across a Series B led by VentureSouq and a $75M Series C closed in December 2022.