Business-to-business startup ShopKirana which has rebranded to Direct has raised $38 million in a Series C funding round, at a valuation of $150 million. The company has so far raised over $50 million.
The round was led by Info Edge, Oman India Joint Investment Fund, and Sixth Sense Ventures. Trifecta, Incubate Fund, Akatsuki, Ajanta LLP, Gunosy Capital, 9Unicorns also participated in the round.
The raised capital will be used to expand the business to all major Tier-II cities of India. It works with 50,000 Kirana stores in eight cities in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, but the company aims to add a new city every 15 days this year and grow its presence across 30 cities by this year-end, said Sumit Ghorawat, who co-founded ShopKirana.
ShopKirana, now known as Direct, works directly with brands and helps them with the distribution network and market intelligence. With the direct platform, the Kirana stores can discover, order, get delivery and make payments for all the brands in one place.
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“We are building India’s biggest go-to-market platform for FMCG brands. With the right product-market fit and considering the heavy adoption from Kirana stores, legacy FMCG brands, and D2C brands, we are super excited to take the business to a national scale,” said Ghorawat.
Founded in 2015 in Indore, by Sumit Ghorawat and Deepak Dhanotiya and serial entrepreneur Tanutejas Saraswat, the company competes with other well-funded startups like Udaan, Jiomart, Flipkart, Amazon, and Jumbotail. “We like the expertise of the founders who come with deep and relevant consumer experience, having led supply chain and GTM functions at leading FMCG brands. Interestingly, it’s also ensured that ShopKirana becomes the most capital efficient player in the market with a revenue run rate of Rs 800 crore,” Nikhil Vora, Founder and CEO Sixth Sense Ventures, said.