Jumbotail Raises INR 35 Cr Debt Round From Alteria Capital

Bengaluru-based online B2B marketplace for food and grocery, Jumbotail, has raised INR 35 Cr from Alteria Capital. This venture debt round comes after a $25 Mn equity ( Series B3) round concluded in January 2021. The company plans to use the funds to expand its operations across the entire country, fund its working capital requirements, and scale its SME focused fintech business.

This follows the $11 Mn Series B2 round raised by the company in October 2020.

“Covi has accelerated the digital transformation of the food and FMCG sector and it is very evident to all players that digital marketplaces are indispensable for their continued growth. We are seeing rapid adoption of our platform and services from retailers and brands across all geographies,” said Ashish Jhina, cofounder, Jumbotail.

Jumbotail was founded, in 2015, by Stanford MBA classmates S Karthik Venkateswaran and Jhina. Karthik served with the Indian army in hard combat and is a marketplaces tech/product veteran from eBay-US and Flipkart. Jhina is a 3rd generation apple farmer, and a former consultant with BCG, with deep experience in agricultural production and supply chains.

Jumbotail claims to serve 50,000+ kirana stores via its full stack ecommerce model consisting of its B2B marketplace platform, warehousing and last-mile delivery supply chain network, and a fintech platform for payment and credit solutions to kirana store owners.

Jinha added that Jumbotail’s J24 store network is growing fast and a large number of FMCG brands are signing up for its go-to-market suite of services to get national reach. The startup is looking to bring in more top talent across the entire company to power this growth.

Ankit Agarwal, Partner, Alteria Capital said, “Jumbotail is emerging as a market leader in the $500Bn+ B2B grocery market, driven by scalable tech platforms, full stack logistics and supply chain network, and fintech and SME lending solutions. We believe Ashish and Karthik are building Jumbotail as an industry defining company of the decade and we are glad to partner with them in their mission to transform food and grocery retail in India.”

Jumbotail’s New Retail platform transforms kirana stores into modern omni-channel convenience grocery stores under the J24 brand within 24-48 hours – offering kirana retailers a full suite of in-store POS technology and insights, daily fulfillment of thousands of products, a B2C online store as well as loyalty solutions to connect retailers to their consumers, in addition to omnichannel integrations with hyperlocal platforms.

 An estimated 12 Mn kirana stores in India control more than 95% of the country’s $500Bn+ food and grocery market. According to a NASSCOM report, organised retail and ecommerce in India is expected to grow 3x by 2024 while unorganised retail is estimated to grow 40%. The report also notes that talent in the retail sector will play a crucial role in successfully digitising the industry.