UAE-based AI-native SaaS company Kingpin has successfully raised $3.5 million in a seed funding round to scale its global B2B distribution platform. The round saw participation from US-based Infinity Ventures, Red Swan Ventures, and Mu Ventures, alongside UAE-based COTU and Outliers, with continued support from Abu Dhabi’s Hub71.
Founded in 2021 by Harsh Sajnani and Guilherme Soares, Kingpin is building an AI-powered ecosystem to streamline the B2B retail industry. The platform unifies product discovery, pricing, sales, fulfillment, and operations, tackling long-standing inefficiencies in global trade. The new capital will be instrumental in expanding the company’s engineering and product teams, enhancing its AI capabilities, and driving its operational growth from the Middle East into key European and North American markets.
An AI-Powered Solution to a Fragmented Industry
Kingpin was born from its founders’ deep, multi-generational experience in the retail and distribution sectors across MENA and Latin America. Witnessing firsthand the fragmentation slowing down global trade, they created a platform to reinvent how the industry connects and transacts.
“Coming from three generations across both sides of the industry, retail and distribution, we’ve been building Kingpin with a first-hand understanding of the main challenges – from new customer/supplier discovery to deciding what and how much to buy, all the way to managing orders, shipments and financing,” said Harsh Sajnani, co-founder & CEO of Kingpin. “It’s a privilege to be building in the AI era: it allows us to combine technology, deep industry expertise and relentless execution to deliver real value to our customers.”
His co-founder, Guilherme Soares, added, “B2B retail’s been running on duct tape and Excel sheets for decades. Many have been trying to transform the industry before, but always in silos, patching one piece at a time while the system stays fragmented. Kingpin finally replaces all of that.”
Investor Confidence and Strategic Vision
The funding round was led by Infinity Ventures, which highlighted the company’s potential to revolutionize a massive, under-automated sector of the global economy.
“We backed Kingpin because they’re bringing AI-native infrastructure to one of the largest and least-automated sectors of the global economy. With deep wholesale experience and exceptional execution, the team is transforming fragmented retail operations into intelligent, scalable workflows for brands, distributors, and their retail partners,” stated Mario Ruiz, co-founder and Managing Partner at Infinity Ventures.
COTU Ventures, which backed Kingpin in its early stages, doubled down on its support, reaffirming its belief in the team’s disciplined approach and vision.
“What I admire most about the Kingpin team is their discipline. Every step of their journey reflects thoughtfulness and care for the people they’re building for,” said Amir Farha, Founder at COTU. “It’s great to see how Harsh and Gui are rebuilding global distribution from the ground up and they’re now coming into their stride with an innovative AI-powered solution that has incredible potential.”
Fueling Global Growth from Abu Dhabi
As a member of Abu Dhabi’s Hub71 ecosystem, Kingpin is well-positioned to leverage the UAE’s thriving AI innovation landscape for its global expansion. The company’s platform already serves over 300 distributors and brands, helping them achieve up to 20% revenue growth, reduce sales cycles by 85%, and save over 200 hours per month by automating complex workflows.
Basma Ahmed AlBadi AlDhaheri, Head of Value Creation at Hub71, commented, “Kingpin reflects Abu Dhabi’s ambition to advance AI-first, export-ready companies that can scale globally from the capital. By enabling intelligent B2B infrastructure with global applications, Kingpin demonstrates the impact of Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem in scaling innovative startups into commercially successful businesses.”
About Kingpin
Kingpin is a B2B SaaS platform that helps brands, distributors, and wholesalers sell smarter and grow faster. By leveraging AI, Kingpin enables businesses to streamline product data, automate sales workflows, and discover new retail customers worldwide. Founded by Harsh Sajnani and Guilherme Soares, Kingpin is headquartered in Dubai with offices in Abu Dhabi.
Source: Wamda
