Walmart-Backed Ninjacart Acquires Saas Startup Tecxprt To Streamline Supply Chain Operations

Agritech startup Ninjacart has acquired SaaS-based smart solutions provider, Tecxprt, for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition will enable Ninjacart to leverage Tecxprt’s rich technology suite to digitise its operations and streamline communication within the company’s ecosystem. 

The deal is part of Ninajcart’s overarching effort to strengthen its position in the agritech space and to evolve as ‘a one-stop solution for retailers and small businesses supplying agri commodities across the country.’

Speaking on the acquisition, Ninjacart CEO and cofounder Thirukumaran Nagarajan said, “‘Ninjacart aims to build the largest agri-platform. We are investing significantly and accelerating the technology-driven disruption in the agricommerce space. Our acquisition of Tecxpert is a first step towards the same…We are thrilled to have the Tecxprt team onboard this journey and transform the lives of agri value participants together.”

Tecxprt managing director and founder, Naveen Murugan, said, “We are thrilled to be a part of the Ninjacart family and grateful for the team’s confidence in us. Our combined workforce, as well as tech capabilities, will be a formidable force towards achieving our joint ambitions of accelerating the growth and streamlining of India’s agri-ecosystem.”  

This comes barely a week after Ninjacart announced a $25 Mn fund to back seed-stage agritech startups under its ‘Agri Seed Fund.’

The startup was founded in May of 2015 by Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Sharath Loganathan, Sachin Jose, Kartheeswaran KK, Ashutosh Vikram and Vasudevan Chinnathambi. Ninjacart is an agritech startup that sources groceries, fruits and vegetables directly from farmers and supplies them to supermarkets and other smaller brick and mortar stores.

The startup claims to cater to more than 150 markets and is reportedly ‘equipped’ to move 1400 tonnes of food items in under 12 hours to over 17K local Kirana stores and restaurants in seven Indian cities daily.

It posted a net loss of INR 484.4 Cr in FY20, with an operational revenue of INR 469 Cr in the same year.

Ninjacart is backed by a host of marquee funds including Tiger Global, Flipkart, Qualcomm Ventures, Accel, among others. 

In what was pegged as the largest agritech deal in the country, Walmart-backed Flipkart had invested $145 Mn in the startup in December last year, valuing it anywhere between $700 Mn to $800 Mn.

Agritech space has been witnessing a major upheaval as ecommerce players continue to line up to invest in these companies to streamline their operations and to strengthen their inhouse SuperApps. 

In the e-grocery segment, the startup competes with the likes of Amazon’s Fresh, Reliance’s JioMart, Tata’s BigBasket and Zomato’s BlinkIt (formerly Grofers).

On the other hand, Bengaluru-based Tecxprt was founded in 2020 by Navin Murugan. The SaaS-based startup automates complex business processes to streamline business operations, allowing users to manage and track their organisation from a single platform. 

What it brings to the table for Ninjacart is the ‘Tecxprt Business Suite.’ The software will enable Ninjacart to connect all its stakeholders of the supply chain, covering the entire journey of its products, from sourcing to sales, and from order fulfilment to logistics. 

Essentially, Tecxprt will reportedly help Ninjacart to remotely automate processes and analyse data within its supply chain ecosystem to increase transparency and decrease operational costs.

According to an Inc42 Plus analysis, India’s addressable agritech market potential is expected to reach the $24.1 Bn mark by 2025. 

As a result, there are more than 1,300 agritech startups in the country that employ artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things (IoT) and a slew of other tools to solve sector specific challenges. 

Earlier in January this year, fresh produce distribution startup WayCool had raised $117 Mn in a Series D funding round. This was followed by another agritech startup Otipy raising INR 235 Cr in Series B round led by Westbridge Capital earlier this month. In February too, B2B agritech startup AGRIM had raised $10 Mn in Series A funding led by Kalaari Capital.

The agritech consystem is flush with funding and has now set its eyes on innovation and consolidation. WIth competition likely to intensify in the coming years, the battle for supremacy has just begun.

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