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Zaarly: The Next eBay?

Mobile commerce startup Zaarly announced today that it has closed a $14 million Series A round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins. They also announced that they’ve added Meg Whitman to their boar...
Zaarly: The Next eBay?
Written by Chris Crum
  • Mobile commerce startup Zaarly announced today that it has closed a $14 million Series A round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins. They also announced that they’ve added Meg Whitman to their board. Whitman, of course, is the President and CEO of HP, and spent ten yeasras as President and CEO of eBay.

    “Conceived and built from the ground up in less than three months, with funding from Ashton Kutcher and LightBank (Groupon’s founders), Zaarly has taken the country by storm with more than $6.8 million in service and product listings in cities such as New York, San Francisco and Chicago,” a Zaarly representative tells WebProNews.

    Zaarly lets consumers buy and sell with people near them. A buyer tells Zaarly what they want, naming a price and a need, then others in the vicinity resound with offers – an interesting mix of location and e-commerce.

    Buying on Zaarly 

    Zaarly Selling

    “Just as consumers once left off-line marketplaces to join online marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist and Amazon, they’re now migrating to mobile marketplaces, like Zaarly,” says Whitman. “Mobile, local marketplaces will shift how people buy and sell goods, services, and experiences. This is the next generation of ecommerce.”

    “No one understands the process of creating and growing marketplaces better than Meg Whitman and we’re thrilled to have her on the team,” said Zaarly CEO and co-founder Bo Fishback. “As we expand our local marketplaces across the globe, we’re fortunate to have Meg share with us her in-depth understanding of eCommerce and wisdom around company-building.”

    Zaarly says that in its first five months, nearly $6.5 million in requests have been posted on the service, and that New York, San Francisco, and Kansas City each topped half a million dollars in listings.

    Zaarly is available as an iPhone or Android app, but it’s also available as a mobile site.

    What do you think? Does this service have the potential to be the next eBay?

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