Dubai’s Kingpin Lands $3.5M to Disrupt Global Retail Distribution with AI

Kingpin, the Dubai‑based startup trying to bring some order to the often messy world of global retail distribution, has secured a $3.5 million seed round to push its AI-powered platform into new markets. The backing comes from a mix of US and UAE investors, including Infinity Ventures, Red Swan Ventures, Mu Ventures, Outliers and COTU, with support from Abu Dhabi’s Hub71. The plan now is fairly straightforward: grow the engineering and product teams, sharpen the company’s AI tools, and take the business beyond the Middle East into Europe and North America.

The company was set up by Harsh Sajnani and Guilherme Soares, both third‑generation operators who’ve lived the pain points on the buyer and seller sides across MENA and Latin America. I’ve met enough founders around Arageek’s circles to know that family‑run trade businesses usually have decades of “manual fixes” behind them — sticky notes, patchy spreadsheets, and the classic WhatsApp orders at midnight. So when Kingpin talks about trying to untangle fragmented workflows, well… I mean, that hits close to home.

Sajnani said the team built Kingpin with years of first‑hand knowledge, from discovering new suppliers and customers to figuring out how much stock to buy and managing shipments and financing. He noted that working in this “AI era” lets them combine technology and deep industry insight to deliver something genuinely useful. Soares didn’t mince words either, saying B2B retail has been “running on duct tape and Excel sheets for decades,” and that past attempts at fixing things were usually done in isolated pieces that never truly solved the wider system.

Infinity Ventures, which led the round, pointed to Kingpin’s potential to reshape a huge, under‑automated sector of the global economy. Its managing partner, Mario Ruiz, highlighted the startup’s mix of wholesale experience and strong execution, saying they’re turning fragmented retail operations into intelligent workflows for brands, distributors and retailers. COTU Ventures also doubled down on its early support, with founder Amir Farha praising the team’s discipline and thoughtful decision‑making — something I reckon is often more valuable than flashy growth numbers.

Hub71’s Basma Ahmed AlBadi AlDhaheri added that Kingpin fits Abu Dhabi’s ambition to build AI‑first, export‑ready companies. And believe it or not, that’s something I hear quite often when chatting with founders around the capital — the ecosystem really is pushing hard to create businesses that can scale beyond the region.

At the moment, Kingpin works with more than 300 distributors and brands across sectors like beauty, fashion and sports. The company claims it can help sales teams grow revenue by up to 20%, cut sales cycles by 85%, and save over 200 hours a month through workflow automation. Its AI platform identifies potential retailers across global markets, validates prospects, sources verified contacts and customises outreach. On the flip side, I’m not a fan of startups promising they’ll “replace everything,” but Kingpin seems to be tackling both discovery and fulfilment, which is spot on for companies drowning in admin.

Being part of the Mubadala-backed Hub71 community gives Kingpin access to Abu Dhabi’s wider AI push and international networks, something many founders I’ve spoken to say is a bit of a game‑changer — even if dealing with expansion paperwork can be a bit of a faff. Still, Kingpin looks set to use its new funding to sprint ahead, and the team seems chuffed to bits about the road in front of them, even if it’s definately going to be a challenging one.

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