UAE-based "re-commerce" platform Cartlow, has raised a $2 million (AED 7.3 million) pre-series A investment round from Arzan Ventures, Vision Ventures and other VCs, and launched its sister company VASCART.

Founded by Mohamed Sleiman, Cartlow looks to digitise the pre-owned industry and eliminates unsustainable practices. It hosts a wide selection of certified pre-owned, refurbished, open-box, and clearance products at lower prices; from TVs, laptops, white appliances to beauty, toys and fashion products. 

The company has crossed 1 million sold items within its first year of operation, which has helped to reduce a lot of e-waste and contribute to the sustainability of the environment.

Meanwhile, the newly-launched platform, VASCART, short for "value added services to your cart", operates as a marketplace for second-hand devices.

“We are still in the early stages of learning how to bring new value to our customers by introducing re-commerce to the region. Our goal remains in continuing to solidify and extend our brand and customer base, since we first successfully launched Cartlow and now we have decided to create more opportunities by launching VASCART for retailers and distributors to benefit from, thereby enhancing their conversion rate and longtime value,” said Seliman. “We are determined to restructure the pre-owned, after- sales and liquidation market in this region under the re-commence ecosystem and we will continue to do so by doing our best, to facilitate both consumers and retailers with endless solutions.”

According to the company’s release, the GCC pre-owned market is valued at $10 billion (AED 37 billion) across all categories.