Sotira has raised $2.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Sotira's investors include Alumni Ventures, Pioneer Fund, Y Combinator.
Sotira is an AI-powered software platform that helps retailers, brands, distributors, and instant commerce companies discreetly offload and monetize surplus, unsold, and short-dated inventory, such as overstock nearing expiration or facing storage constraints.[1][2][3][4] It serves these suppliers by matching their inventory with verified brick-and-mortar buyers nationwide, automating compliance, logistics, transactions, and payments—enabling sales within days and recouping up to 50% of costs while freeing working capital and space.[1][2][3] Focused on categories like ambient food and beverage, makeup, cosmetics, health, and wellness, Sotira charges a monthly fee plus transaction commissions, with strong early momentum including a $2M pre-seed round from investors like Soma Capital, Unusual Ventures, K5 Global, and Night Capital, plus a TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield 200 spot in 2024.[1][2][3]
Sotira was founded in 2023 in San Francisco by CEO Amrita Bhasin and CTO Gary Kwong, who met at UC Berkeley and bonded over e-commerce and logistics interests while running their own companies selling previously owned, new, or used products.[1][2] Bhasin, with a background in sociology and entrepreneurship from UC Berkeley, identified a key gap in reverse logistics—a tech-deficient industry relying on manual processes like physical checks and weeks-long negotiations for surplus sales.[3] The idea emerged from this frustration, leading them to build an automated platform for quick inventory liquidation, starting with grocery, health, wellness, and cosmetics items; early traction includes partnerships like RangeMe and national buyer networks processing thousands of transactions monthly.[1][2][3]
Sotira rides the reverse logistics and inventory optimization trend, fueled by e-commerce overstock surges, supply chain disruptions, and rising storage costs in CPG/retail amid economic pressures.[2][3][4] Timing is ideal as brands face waste from short-dated goods and excess orders, while AI disrupts a "very old school" industry lacking tech—Sotira modernizes it like online marketplaces did for forward logistics.[3] Market forces favoring it include sustainability demands (reducing waste-to-cash), working capital crunches, and off-price retail growth; it influences the ecosystem by democratizing premium inventory access, boosting supplier cash flow, and enabling faster transactions for buyers.[1][2][4]
Sotira is poised for rapid scaling with its $2M funding fueling national expansion into new regions and categories (e.g., beta launches beyond current focus), potentially capturing more of the massive U.S. surplus market as AI logistics adoption accelerates.[2][3] Trends like AI-driven supply chain efficiency, sustainability mandates, and economic volatility will shape its path, evolving it from liquidator to full reverse logistics leader—much like how it already transforms manual drudgery into seamless monetization for overstocked brands.[3][4]
Sotira has raised $2.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $2.0M Seed in February 2025.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2025 | $2.0M Seed | Alumni Ventures, Pioneer Fund, Y Combinator |
