SUMMARY
The fresh capital will be used to expand Rozana’s warehousing and logistics reach into new districts
Founded in 2021 by Ankur Dahiya, Adwait Vikram Singh, Mukesh Christopher and Prithvi Pal Singh, Rozana operates a rural ecommerce platform and logistics network
India’s ecommerce market, which is projected to hit $400 Bn by 2030, experienced a notable contraction in startup funding in 2023
Rural commerce startup Rozana has raised $22.5 Mn (around INR 186.5 Cr) in a fresh funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), with participation from Fireside Ventures, Licious cofounder Vivek Gupta and existing investor 3one4 Capital.
The startup will use the fresh capital to expand its warehousing and logistics footprints, scale up technology stack and hiring across technology, product and operations.
Founded in 2021 by Ankur Dahiya, Adwait Vikram Singh, Mukesh Christopher and Prithvi Pal Singh, Rozana operates as an ecommerce platform and logistics network focused on serving the needs of rural communities in India.
The startup claims to have its presence across 13 districts with a network of around 18,000 peer partners.
“With this funding, we will continue building out our logistics and supply chain infrastructure to reach new districts and empower rural communities with access to essential products,” said Dahiya.
“The opportunity in rural India is greatly underappreciated and this team is the ideal one to unlock it. The possibility to create meaningful impact in millions of lives excites us and we are thrilled to partner with Rozana on this journey,” said Rohit Sood, partner at Bertelsmann India Investments.
Kanwal Singh, founder and managing partner at Fireside Ventures, said, “Rozana’s focus on providing a wide range of products across categories in rural markets and the unique background of their founders make them well-poised to build a very successful business.”
Prior to this, Rozana raised a total funding of $4 Mn across two rounds.
It competes against the likes of Peel-Works, Jumbotail, ElasticRun, Copia Global and Kasha.
India’s ecommerce market, which is projected to hit $400 Bn by 2030, experienced a notable contraction in startup funding in 2023. According to Inc42’s latest “Indian Startup Funding Report 2023”, Indian ecommerce startups raised $2.6 Bn during the year, down 32% from $3.8 Bn raised in 2022.
Meanwhile, the deal count, too, declined 33.6% to 192+ from 288+ a year ago. Overall, the ecommerce funding returned to 2019 levels when the sector raised a total of $2.5 Bn across 130 deals.
