Funding alert- A distribution startup announced a funding of USD 12 million. What good news it is!
Let us talk about the distribution startups and the logistic industry of the country. The logistic segment includes transportation management, fleet management, warehouse management, proper handling of materials, and inventory management. Distribution on the other hand includes packaging, storage, order fulfillment, and handling customer and vendor returns. Talking about the Indian sector, it has a large number of unorganized players, hence the industry is highly fragmented. The Indian logistics market is worth USD 215 billion, and only 10-15% of this whole market is owned and operated by organized players.
Discussing the global logistics market, the size of the market is expected to grow from USD 2734 billion in the year 2020 to USD 3215 billion in the year 2021, at a Y-O-Y of 17.6%. If we talk about the logistic industry from the perspective of India, the country needs to have more organized players. It also needs to reduce the cost of logistics from 14% which is current to 10% till the year 2022.
We know that the logistics industry of the country is growing. It is considered to be the lifeline of the country as it plays a very important role as it connects different markets, suppliers, and customers from the various parts of the country and is now a valuable part of the GDP of the country. Some of the important factors which are helping the logistics industry grow are improvement of infrastructure across the nation, markets are emerging and thus are providing loads of opportunities, newer technologies are being adopted, digitalization is increasing, customers are now preferencing goods which have less delivery time and use of new, modern and innovative methods to make sure that the products are delivered quickly.
The logistics sector is a source of huge employment and is providing livelihood to around 22 million people. If the improvements are made in this sector, there will be a reduction of 10% in the costs, thus leading to the increase of 5-8% in exports. According to the estimates made by The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the country spends around 14% of its GDP on logistics while countries like Japan spend 11% and the USA spend between 9-10%. In the year 2022, the Indian Logistics market is expected to reach USD 255 billion, growing at a CAGR of 10.5%.
Let us now talk about the funding of a logistics and distribution startup that has taken place recently.
Announcement of funding of a logistics and distribution startup
The startup, Ripplr, has raised a funding of USD 12 million, which is equivalent to INR 90 crore, as announced on December 22, 2021. This round of funding was the pre-Series B round of funding and was led by Sojitz Corporation, which is a Japanese firm, and Stride Ventures. The other participants of this round of funding were the existing investors 3one4 Capital, Zephyr Peacock India Growth Fund, and Chand Family Office. Some Angel Investors also took part in this round of funding. The angel investors were Vivek and Abhay, who are Licious founders, and Aniketh and Ashish, who are the founders of Kaleyra. This round of funding was a mixture of both equity and debt.
The startup plans to utilize the funds raised in building and scaling up the FMCG distribution network, which is enabled with technology. This process will also involve entering into new geographies and building robust tech capabilities, developing products, and attracting new talents. The startup in the month of January in the year 2021, had raised USD 3 million in its Series-A round of funding.
About the newly funded logistics and distribution startup
The startup, Ripplr, was founded by Abhishek Nehru and Santosh D in the year 2019 and has its headquarters in Bengaluru. The startup is engaged in building India’s largest digital-first distribution platform. It helps brands reach the targeted markets with speed and ease of doing business through the Ripplr distribution network. The growth of the startup lies in the growth of the brands it takes to market, so there is no upfront investment required to get onboard Ripplr.
The products and services offered by the startup are-
Plug and Play System
Data-Driven Analytics
Operational Visibility
Talking about the presence of the startup, it is as follows-
It has more than 20 brands onboarded
It has more than 30,000 retailers
It has 10 warehouses
It has more than 300 employees
It has processed more than 1,00,000 orders per month
It has logistics across 17 cities
It has its distribution network in 6 cities
The major brands with which the startup has its partnership for distribution are Dabur, Tata Consumer Products, Unilever, Godrej, Britannia, Reckitt Benckiser, ITC, Gold Drop, Nivea, Fortune, Too Yumm, Blue Tokai, Colgate, and many more.
The brands with which the startup is in partnership for logistics are Licious, Big Basket, Udaan, Grofers, D Mart, Metro, Kurl-on, Seven-Eleven, Croma, Zomato, and many more.
About Sojitz Corporation
Founded in the year 2004, Sojitz Corporation is engaged in different types of businesses around the world, including buying, selling, importing, and exporting goods, manufacturing and selling products, providing services, and planning and coordinating projects in Japan and across the world. The range of sectors in which Sojitz Corporation operates is mineral resources, automobiles, energy, chemicals, foodstuff, forestry resources, consumer goods, and industrial parks.
About Stride Ventures
Stride Ventures is engaged in providing comprehensive credit solutions to new-age businesses in India. It follows a relationship-driven approach to provide customized debt capital shaped by specific business requirements. It plays a strategic role in the long-term journey of its portfolio companies through deep penetration in the banking and venture ecosystem. It has screened more than 1000 companies, has invested in 14 sectors, has made 42 investments, and has raised total funds worth USD 2500 million.
The startup is doing so great and has something different to offer which will bring a change in the traditional Indian market. We wish the startup good luck and a bright and successful future ahead.
Edited and Proofread by Ashlyn Joy
