B2B online marketplace in the fashion and lifestyle segment, Wholesalebox has secured $2 Mn in its Pre-Series A round of funding from angel investors. As per an official statement, the investors included Manish Maheshwari, CEO, Network 18 Digital, and Contrarian Vriddhi Fund among others.
The raised funds will be used to scale its technology and expand its operations in new markets. It’ll be also used to improve the supplier and customer experience.
Jaipur-based Wholesalebox was launched in 2015 by Rohit Dangayach, Chandan Agarwal, Madhur Bhaiya, and Rakesh Shekhawat. It helps shops to promote their business by broadcasting Wholesalebox designs to their customers with their marked up retail pricing and taking customer opinions even before buying, thereby reducing dead stock. It also helps the merchants to develop products according to customer demands and brand their online showroom the similar way.
Rohit Dangayach, co-founder and CEO, Wholesalebox said, “The main objective is to provide doorstep delivery to retailers along with better choice while reducing their landing cost by 25%. We strongly believe that retailers should be able to focus more on their customers to help them have a better experience.”
Wholesalebox primarily focusses on unbranded and local brand markets and claims to sell goods at less than 25%-30% of what stores would normally pay. It uses technology that helps small and medium manufacturers scale by providing them a pan India sales channel, while giving retailers an improved procurement experience.
Commenting on the investment, Somak Ghosh from Vriddhi Fund said, “98% of the Indian retail market is in the offline channel, which provides a large opportunity for Wholesalebox to bring in significant efficiencies by organising the sector’s multi-layer supply chain.”
According to an official statement, it currently has over 350 manufacturers and about 15,000 registered retailers on its portal.
In October 2016, Mumbai-based venture capital firm Kae Capital invested an undisclosed amount in B2B marketplace We Organise The Unorganised (WOTU). Earlier this month, B2B online marketplace Udaan secured $10 Mn in its Series A round of funding from VC firm Lightspeed Venture Partners India and Lightspeed US.
Other major B2B players include Moglix, Bizongo, OfBusiness etc.
The development was reported by Mint.
