Logistics Startup Procol Secures $6 Mn+ To Help Digitise Procurement Processes

Supply chain startup Procol has bagged $6.4 Mn (INR 51 Cr) in its Series A, equity financing round. 

GMO VenturePartners, Alarko Ventures, Esas Ventures, FounderBank Capital, Anchorage Capital and existing investors–Blume Ventures, Beenext, Sequoia Surge have participated in the round. 

Besides, angel investors–Kunal Shah from CRED, Razorpay founders, Deb Deep Sengupta from SAP India, Srinath from Zetwerks, Ashish Dave from Mirae VC, Ankush Grover from Rebel Foods, Aaryaman Vir Shah from Prophetic Ventures and Ankit Sethi from Fung Investments, among others have participated in the round too. 

Procol will use the raised capital to build and strengthen its procurement software as well as B2B marketplace.

“Procol has the potential to resolve the long-lasting pain in India’s $500 Bn procurement market. It is our honor to be part of the journey”, said Ryu Muramatsu, director and founding partner of GMO VenturePartners.

Founded in 2018 by Gaurav Baheti and Sumit Mendiratta, Procol is a procurement software startup that helps digitise the procurement processes of manufacturing companies. It helps manufacturing companies simplify their procurement processes across the SME supplier base.  

Procol said that procurement teams of manufacturing companies follow a traditional method of buying goods and services manually via phone calls and emails. However, its solutions simplify the entire procurement process by sourcing and purchasing workflows and in turn, giving a better return on investment (ROI).

“Going from managing INR 70 Cr to 7000 Cr of procurement in 2 years, our journey at Procol is just getting started. We humbly believe that Indian businesses will grow multifold in the coming decade and our teams at Procol are dedicated to the mission to do so,” Baheti said.

Prior to founding Procol, both the founders had worked with a multitude of companies such as Google New York, Zomato, iSPIRT, OYO, VIT, among others. In addition, Procol’s team holds considerable experience in tech, supply chain and risk management fields.

Procol further said that its mobile and desktop-based platform helps manufacturers organise sourcing events, manage vendors and build visibility in their supply chain. It also facilitates buyers and SMB sellers in improving transparency as well as traceability in the procurement process. 

It claims to help manufacturing companies cut down their procurement costs by 10%. It further asserts to have managed procurement processes worth over INR 7500 Cr and worked along with more than 70 large enterprises–Dalmia Bharat, Havells, Mrs Bectors, Emami, Zetwerk and Tata BigBasket, to name a few.

It faces competition from the likes of Magma, Udaan, StarAgri and Farmpal, among others. 

According to Statista’s report, the Indian supply chain market, which was pegged at $250 Bn in the financial year 2021, is likely to become a $380 Bn industry in 2025. The sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10-12% during 2021-25.