Graas Raises $40 Mn To Scale Operations, Ramp Up Hiring

SUMMARY

The round saw participation from VC firm Kejora’s special purpose vehicle (SPV) Galaxy, Performa, Integra Partners, Yuj Ventures, AJ Capital, among others

Graas will use the funding to acquire Pune-based D2C platform Shoptimize and Chennai-based marketplace specialist SELLinALL

Graas helps ecommerce companies scale growth by integrating traditional data silos with its AI and ML engine to predict trends and insights

Ecommerce solutions platform Graas has raised more than $40 Mn as part of the first close of its Series A funding round. The round was led by venture capital (VC) firm Kejora-led special purpose vehicle (SPV) Galaxy, Performa, Integra Partners, Yuj Ventures and AJ Capital.

The round also saw participation from multiple angel investors from India and South-East Asia (SEA).

A part of the fundraise will be used to fully acquire Pune-based direct-to-customer (D2C) platform Shoptimize and marketplace specialist SELLinALL. As part of the deal, founders of both Shoptimize and SELLinALL will join the board of Graas and will work as part of the consolidated entity.

The startup will also use the investment to scale up operations in the Southeast Asia region and ramp up hiring across multiple verticals.

Graas, in a statement, said that it would also deploy the capital to launch its ‘Growth-as-a-Service’ (GaaS) technology solution. The platform would equip brands with automated ecommerce recommendations to streamline their bottomline.

Founded in 2022 by Prem Bhatia and Ashwin Puri, Graas uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to scale growth for ecommerce companies. Essentially, the startup integrates traditional data silos with its AI and ML engine to predict trends and insights.

“Graas’ vision is to demolish data silos, increase brands’ speed to market and create a streamlined, informed approach to marketing, inventory and content management – all in one dashboard. As a result, we are already seeing exponential increases in our clients’ growth via our solution and that’s why we have defined a new category for Graas – GaaS,” its CEO and cofounder Bhatia said.

The startup’s product suggests recommendations and executes them across multiple fronts including brand communications, inventory management, warehousing and last mile logistics.

Graas serves more than 250 customers and claims to process more than 45 Mn data points every month across over 4 Mn stock keeping units (SKUs). It currently has more than 350 employees across 11 offices in seven countries.

“The intersection of AI, ecommerce, adtech and fintech presents a multi-billion dollar opportunity in Southeast Asia and India. Partnering with Graas is exciting for us because they have not only seen this gap in the market, but have created a solution that defines an entirely new category”, Integra Partners MD Jinesh Patel said.

In the ecommerce solutions space, Graas competes with other major players such as Shopify, NetSuite SuiteCommerce, among others.

According to a report, the global ecommerce software market was valued at $7.15 Bn at the end of 2020. This number was projected to soar to $20.58 Bn by 2027, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.3% in the period under consideration.