ShopKirana, an Indore-based B2B supply chain startup, has bagged $10 million (approx ₹711 crore) in a Series B funding round from Info Edge, Incubate Fund, Akatsuki AET Fund, NPTK Emerging Asia Fund and Better Capital.
The platform will use the funds to expand its presence in major Tier 2 cities.
Sumit Ghorawat, cofounder, ShopKirana, said, “ShopKirana platform has the ability to place an international brand in local kirana stores and has the power to take a local brand to India scale.”
ShopKirana was founded by Tanutejas Saraswat, Deepak Dhanotiya, and Sumit Ghorawat in 2015. The space provides a platform for connecting individual retailers directly with suppliers.
“ShopKirana empowers small retailers by servicing them better, faster, cheaper, and enabling them to compete against organized retail and ecommerce. The supply chain efficiencies they have brought about using technology and data analytics is industry leading,” said Kitty Agarwal, head- corporate development/VC at Info Edge.
While, according to the company, it is also aiming to connect farmers with retailers through its platform. The company’s vision is to connect 9 million individual retailers directly with suppliers and distributors by removing mediators/traders.
It wants to help small Indian retailers improve their profits, product range, product availability, credits, inventory management and most importantly access to more customers.
Besides, the company’s website shows that it is present in 100,000 stores across 30 cities. It also claims to reach 50 Mn consumers across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
According to a 2018 IBEF report, the Indian retail market is expected to reach $1.1 Tn by 2020. Increasing incomes and lifestyle changes in the middle class community along with increasing internet penetration are the major factors which are driving this growth.
Some of the significant players in the similar category includes ShopX, Udaan, Peel Works, among others.