ex-Takealot Founders launch New Ecommerce Site Raru

This post was originally written by Jacques Coetzee: staff reporter for Ventureburn, our Africa pubishing partner and was reposted here wih permission. Read the story on Ventureburn here.

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A new online shop called Raru has joined South Africa’s ecommerce scene. Currently in beta, the site is the brainchild of three of the founders of the ecommerce site now known as Takealot, which specialises in consumer tech like video games, music and computers.

Raru’s directors are Neil Smith, Waine Smith and Jose Pereira. The trio were all partners at Take 2 — an ecommerce shop founded in 2002, which later relaunched as Takealot.

The three have been involved in the online retail space for more than 15 years, and hope that this experience will give Raru the edge in a contested space.

“We are almost all part of the team who sold Take 2 to Tiger Global in 2010. After a welcome break we are now back, well rested, and well travelled,” Smith says.

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When asked why consumer electronics is Raru’s specialty, Smith replied saying that “We know people are moving to consuming their entertainment more and more in a digital fashion, but at the end of the day you still need a physical device to play you digital content on.”

Smith further states that the site will stand out from the rest because the founders intend to have a strong focus in the product categories they know best. “Niche, but focused would probably sum it up best”, he says.

Raru aims to deliver a proactive customer experience, which Smith hopes will be a key driver for business success. “We’re passionate about the products we sell, being avid consumers of them ourselves. Combined with a dedication to service and the use of professional delivery partners, we believe we will provide an outstanding online retail experience of all South Africans,” he notes.

Supported by Tiger Global Management and CEO Kim Reid, Takealot has recently secured a massive US$100-million. Takealot CEO Kim Reid recently told Ventureburn that recent investments might mean a greater focus on tech products.

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