Nandan Nilekani-Backed Assisted Ecommerce Startup ShopX Raises $35 Mn

Bengaluru-based assisted ecommerce startup ShopX, run by 10I Commerce Services, has raised $35 Mn funding from Fung Strategic Holdings with a view to fuel its expansion plans.

With the funding, the company plans to expand to lakhs of small merchants, strengthen its product and technology and build new offerings covering multiple product verticals.

Launched in 2015 by Amit Sharma and Apoorva Jois, ShopX is a technology-led startup launched which aims to disrupt the traditional retail ecosystem through a differentiated approach.

The ShopX retail app enables retailers to offer their products and services to customers by listing them, along with daily deals, on its platform.  

Amit Sharma, co-founder of ShopX, said, “We are keen on building a globally transformative company out of India, and one with a deep product and technology-led culture. Having the right investors in an ambitious venture like ShopX is paramount. Nandan has helped us not only with capital but also significantly enhanced our vision with his strategic guidance and helped instil sound operating values. We could not have asked for more in an early stage investor. As we plan for hyper-growth, we are extremely excited to have a global supply chain leader like the Fung Group as our strategic investor. We expect deep synergies in the areas of supply chain orchestration, global sourcing, introduction to new brands and overall retail distribution.”

The Fung Group operates across the global supply chain for consumer goods, including in areas such as sourcing, logistics, distribution, and retail.

Rajesh Ranavat, executive director of Fung Strategic Holdings, said, “ShopX has a huge opportunity to transform India’s current retail landscape and be a real pioneer in terms of creating the future of what’s possible for the retail ecosystem in India from the consumer to the supplier, retailer or brand. We’re proud to be their strategic partner and we’re very excited at the potential growth ahead.”

Earlier, in April, ShopX had raised $2 Mn from its early investor, Nandan Nilekani who has since early days made a personal investment of more than $18 Mn in addition to providing business mentorship to ShopX founders.  ShopX has so far raised a total of $53.6 Mn.

ShopX: Ecommerce For Everyone

As opposed to an asset-heavy approach, the startup is further taking a highly scalable and technology led approach, creating a new category of retail called ‘Digital Offline’ using its proprietary technology platform.

According to Sharma, ShopX has partnered with over 100 consumer brands, including Hindustan Unilever and P&G, and it has been approached by 200 more brands for partnerships on the supply side.

Sharma also emphasised that ShopX has seen 20% month-on-month growth over the last few months and expects this growth rate to rise to 25% in the coming months. The company has also turned profitable at the category-level.

“Among our core categories, consumer electronics turned profitable in February and food & grocery became profitable starting June,” said Sharma.

In June, ShopX launched its supply chain delivery model that aims to deliver products within 24-72 hours in Tier I to IV markets. ShopXpress takes no additional charge and has no minimum or maximum limit on the orders serviced. It provides GPS tracking and instant track-and-trace of shipments, as well as a real-time resolution of issues.

Within 24 months of its launch, ShopX has empowered 50K small retailers in 300 towns across 10 states in the south and west India. It claims to be carrying out more than 50K digital and physical transactions per day and serving more than 6.8 Mn customers. The company claims to be doing over INR 500 Cr in annualised transaction volume.

Sharma had earlier told Inc42, “In 2018, our focus remains on deep execution and we continue to build out the omnichannel/digital offline industry as the leader in this space.”

Other startups in the assisted ecommerce space are IndiaBuys, StoreKing, and IPay, among others.

Currently, there are about 48 Mn offline retailers in India, according to RedSeer Consulting.

While ecommerce companies such as Flipkart, Myntra, etc, are now enabling offline stores to leverage touch and feel interaction for customers to buy products, players such as ShopX have already tapped into the huge market.