Eze, a wholesale marketplace for used and new electronics, has secured $3.7 million in seed funding to develop its technology infrastructure, broaden its product offering and expand into new markets in Africa, Europe and South America.
The funding round was led by Right Side Capital Management, with participation from C2 Ventures, Boro Capital, EVPI Investments and other angel investors.
The global market for consumer electronics is projected to grow to reach $1.70 trillion by 2028, driven by rising disposable incomes of consumers, the growing tendency towards digitization and the increasing utility of personal electronic devices such as smartphones, wearables and other devices. However, the process of buying and selling these devices in wholesale quantities still remains heavily manual, especially in emerging markets. This heavily manual process leads to various inefficiencies and adds to the cost burden for buyers which they typically pass on to consumers, raising the barrier to access potentially life changing products.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Eze (pronounced – “Easy”) connects thousands of buyers across the world to used and new smartphones, laptops, tablets and other electronics. Buyers can purchase from the largest electronics inventory repository in the world with over 200,000 SKUs available at any time and have their orders delivered as quickly as the next day, depending on where they are ordering from.
Buyers can also pay securely in their local currency, making it easier for them to buy the electronics they need. Eze vets all sellers and physically inspects each device that is purchased before it is shipped to the buyer, to ensure that all devices are fully functional and meet the prescribed quality grading. The startup already has loyal customers in more than 50 countries across the world, including the US, UK, Nigeria, Mexico, Ukraine, UAE and it has sold more than 500,000 devices, with less than 1 percent defect rate.
According to Josh Nzewi, CEO and co-founder of Eze, “Our mission is to power unfettered access to consumer electronics across the world, enabling users to maximise their potential with the experiences provided by these devices. We are thrilled to have the support of our investors, and we look forward to using this funding to enhance our platform and provide even more value to our customers. Our goal remains to become the go-to destination for B2B buyers and sellers in the electronics industry, especially in emerging markets, and this investment will help us achieve that goal.”
“We believe that Eze has the potential to revolutionise the wholesale electronics marketplace,” said Chris Cunningham of C2 Ventures. “Their platform is user-friendly, with integrations that enable an excellent buyer experience. We are excited to support them in their expansion journey.”