Fearless Fund Backed Zimi Secures $2M to Simplify Cross-border Commerce

Y Combinator-backed Zimi has raised $2 million to help international merchants easily sell in the States.

Earlier this week, the fast-growing startup announced the seed round, led by the Fearless Fund and with participation from Y Combinator.

Zimi will use this new cash injection to scale its U.S. fulfillment networks and build and apply AI models to make the merchant experience more seamless. 

Zimi is Simplifying Cross-border Commerce

Launched earlier this year by Audrey Djiya and Peter Nsaka, Zimi seeks to simplify cross-border commerce for merchants selling cross-border. 

“Growing up watching family members move goods cross-border, the challenges around international commerce really stuck with me,” co-founder and CEO Audrey told TechCrunch. 

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The company’s co-founder and CTO also said, “The easy path would have been to accept the conventional wisdom and attribute this disparity to platform preference or market limitations. But engineering has taught me that assumptions are the enemy of innovation.” 

Zimi is trying to solve the challenges brands shipping internationally face, such as high shipping costs, long delivery times, and the need to often rely on expensive distributors. 

The company provides a suite of services to address the complexities of international sales. These include establishing localized fulfillment centers, managing tax regulations, facilitating currency exchange, and ensuring compliance with U.S. laws. 

Zimi’s primary objective is to support international merchants looking to sell successfully in the U.S., providing a holistic solution that meets all their international selling needs in one comprehensive platform.

Leveraging the New Fund To Drive Zimi’s Growth

The fresh capital will be strategically allocated to various facets of Zimi’s growth. A significant portion will be used to scale the company’s U.S. fulfillment networks, enhancing its service delivery capabilities. 

Furthermore, Zimi will focus on developing cutting-edge AI models to improve the overall merchant experience on the platform. Next year, Zimi plans to introduce a new payment solution that will simplify international merchants’ processing of payments in U.S. dollars, eliminating currency-related complications. 

“There are competitors that exist to solve different pieces of the cross-border pu,zzle but what sets us apart from them is our holistic solution,” Nsaka said. “Everything a merchant needs to do to sell internationally can be done in one place on our platform.”

The Y Combinator 24 cohort startup has employed innovative customer acquisition strategies to establish a foothold in the competitive landscape of global commerce.

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The founders have actively generated lead lists to attract early adopters by engaging directly with potential brands through platforms like Instagram and leveraging email outreach.

Overall, Zimi’s expansion plans underscore a commitment to making global commerce more accessible for international brands by enhancing their infrastructure and growing their team and customer base.