ShopKirana Raises $10 Mn In Series B Funding To Expand Tier 2 Presence

Indore-based B2B supply chain startup ShopKirana has raised $10 Mn in a Series B funding round. The investment came in from existing investors Info Edge, Incubate Fund, Akatsuki AET Fund, NPTK Emerging Asia Fund and Better Capital.

The fresh funds will be used to expand its presence in major Tier 2 cities. Prior to this round, ShopKirana had raised $2.1 Mn.

Founded in 2015 by Tanutejas Saraswat, Deepak Dhanotiya, and Sumit Ghorawat, ShopKirana provides a platform for connecting individual retailers directly with suppliers. According to the company, it is also aiming to connect farmers with retailers through its platform.

Sumit Ghorawat, cofounder, ShopKirana, said, “ShopKirana platform has the ability to place an international brand in local kirana stores and has the power to take a local brand to India scale.”

ShopKirana’s vision is to connect 9 Mn individual retailers directly with suppliers and distributors by removing mediators/traders. It wants to help small Indian retailers improve their profits, product range, product availability, credits, inventory management and most importantly access to more customers.

The company website claims that it is present in 100K stores across 30 cities having enabled 2 Bn in sales. It claims to reach 50 Mn consumers across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

“ShopKirana empowers small retailers by servicing them better, faster, cheaper, and enabling them to compete against organized retail and ecommerce. The supply chain efficiencies they have brought about using technology and data analytics is industry leading,” said Kitty Agarwal, head- corporate development/VC at Info Edge.

According to a 2018 IBEF report, the Indian retail market is expected to reach $1.1 Tn by 2020. Increasing incomes and lifestyle changes in the middle class community along with increasing internet penetration are the major factors which are driving this growth. Here leading players include ShopKirana, ShopX, Udaan, Peel Works etc.

In 2015, during a presentation, Boston Consulting Group’s Senior Partner and Director Abheek Singhi had said that the kirana store model works well in a complex market like India, where small-format stores can easily penetrate the length and breadth of the vast country. But considering the sheer vastness in presence and number, they still lack online visibility.