SUMMARY
Ripplr will use the capital to strengthen its tech and infrastructure
The startup was founded in June 2019 and has a presence in NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad
The company provides end to end logistics support to brands using technology
Logistics and distribution startup Ripplr has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round led by 3one4 Capital and Sprout Venture Partners.
“The full-stack platform will use the seed funds to strengthen its tech and infrastructure and expand the team in distribution, tech and finance,” Abhishek Nehru, cofounder, Ripplr told Inc42.
Founded by Abhishek Nehru and Santosh D in June 2019, the startup has a presence in NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad. “Ripplr addresses a major pain point in the supply chain, particularly for new-age brands, by providing end to end logistics support to brands using technology in an asset-light approach within the existing infrastructure,” said Sahil Gupta, Partner, Sprout Venture Partners.
Lower volumes of trade among newer brands, lack of adequate infrastructure and channels are primarily why logistics and distribution costs are significantly higher in retail. That makes it difficult for new-age brands to move into general trade despite several products having high demand and market fit.
Ripplr works at breaking this inefficient cycle through its artificial intelligence or machine learning-based distribution and logistics platform. The fresh funds will further enable new-age brands to latch on to a plug and pay model that helps them with an efficient, cost-effective channel for higher reach and visibility in the market.
“Consumer aspirations of brands and personalised products are not limited to metros and Tier-1 cities anymore. New-age brands realise this but are handcuffed by the current systems. Our full-stack platform reaches that audience,” said Nehru.
The platform also caters to existing established brands that can wield this platform directly or through their distribution network to improve their reach. Gupta added that they see strong moat in terms of its technology to connect between all levels of logistics, distribution and retail intelligence. The service provider has on-boarded ecommerce and offline retail companies including Amazon, Udaan, Licious, Grofers, McDonald’s and BigBasket over the last 6 months.
“Ripplr envisions an integrated, shared, and tech-enabled ecosystem for end-to-end logistical support and distribution of consumer brands that enter into the market, empowering them with high real-time data visibility and reach,” Santosh added.
The B2B company has registered an Accounting Rate of Return (ARR) of around INR 12 Cr and aims at crossing an ARR of INR 100 Cr over the next 12 months. The Bengaluru-based startup aims at becoming a reliable, cost-effective, capital-light and risk-free distribution platform with strong tech and process-based backend.
“In Ripplr, we have been able to identify a low cost, platformised and scalable approach that allows new age consumer brands to discover distribution without requiring the organisational overhead,” said Anurag Ramdasan, Principal, 3one4 Capital. He added that the firm is excited to back a founding team that comes with tremendous domain expertise in the space.
