A startup called Peeba has built a B2B wholesale online platform that connects independent retailers across Asia with unique brands around the world. The Hong Kong-headquartered company wants to help Asia-based B2B retailers reduce inventory risk and offer higher operational efficiency with lower costs via its platform. The startup has secured $4.2 million in seed funding led by Headline Ventures. The company also will bolster its machine learning-driven recommendation engine and improve its proprietary technology for its retailers’ automated credit checks, said Kevin Cho, co-founder of Peeba. One of Peeba’s unique features is that there is no upfront cost with stocking their physical or virtual shelves with inventory from Peeba, as the company uses a “Sell First, Pay Later” model, Lai continued. The platform brings both emerging and traditional brands to the world of local retail in Asia. Peeba says the lack of B2B-focused online wholesale solutions and tech infrastructure hampered Asia’s antiquated B2B retail, wholesale market in business growth and new market entries during the pandemic.