Jumbotail, an India-based business to business (B2B) marketplace and new retail platform for food and grocery, has raised INR 151 crore ($18.2 miilion) equity capital in Series C3 equity funding round led by Artal Asia Pte. Ltd. (Artal).

Heron Rock, Sabre Investment, Arkam Ventures, Jarvis Reserve Fund, Reaction Global, VII Ventures and others also participated in the round, Jumbotail said in a statement on Monday.

Jumbotail has raised a total of $143 million in equity from investors including Artal, Heron Rock, Nexus Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Jumbo Fund, Arkam Ventures, and about $14 million in Venture Debt from venture debt firms Alteria Capital and Innoven Capital.

Jumbotail said it plans to invest funds in scaling its suite of Go-To-Market (GTM) products and services for new and emerging brands to reach mass market consumers via Jumbotail’s nationwide kirana store network.

It is noted that the firm is building artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technologies to drive higher customer wallet share by leveraging its deep sourcing capabilities across fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and staples and its industry leading kirana supply chain.

Ashish Jhina, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Jumbotail, said the firm is the fastest, most effective and capital efficient way for brands to access over 100 million urban middle class consumers via the Kirana stores on the Jumbotail platform.

“We will strengthen our leadership position by going deeper into our existing markets and by helping brands reach kiranas with the lowest total cost of activation and the fastest route to market in the sector,” he said.

He expects the firm to be fully profitable on an operational basis across its entire network before the end of 2024.

“We are happy to see world class investors doubling down on our mission to transform India’s food and grocery retail ecosystem,” he added.

According to the statement, India’s top national and regional brands work directly with Jumbotail, with joint business plans focused on improving their range availability and product discovery and growing their sales to Kirana stores through Jumbotail’s eB2B platform.

Through Jumbotail, brands can influence the entire demand funnel, from creating kirana awareness of their products to purchase and restocking to driving consumer awareness via kirana stores, at a very granular level using Jumbotail’s digital marketing suite, and tech driven ops capabilities.

With over 60 percent of market penetration of Kiranas in the cities it serves, Jumbotail has the highest wallet share and monthly purchase frequency of small and medium Kirana stores in the industry.

It is noted that 100 percent of Jumbotail’s sales are generated by unassisted digital orders placed organically by kirana stores across the country via Jumbotail B2B digital retailer app.

“We are excited to see Jumbotail execute sustainable growth at scale, with a strong focus on profitability and capital efficiency,” said Benjamin Felt, Board Member of Jumbotail and Managing Director of Invus, the global advisor of Artal.

Accoording to him, since Artal’s first investment in Jumbotail in 2021, Jumbotail has continued to demonstrate its differentiation and market leadership in the digital enablement of the kirana ecosystem.

It is noted that since raising its last round of equity funding in December 2021, the company has consolidated its market leadership, scaled its footprint across the country, significantly increasing the market reach for its FMCG and staples brand partners while leveraging its economies of scale to accelerate its march towards profitability.

The company plans to hire world class teams in deep sourcing, category management, product management, AI/ machine learning (ML), and marketing.

According to the statement, an estimated 12 million kirana stores in India control more than 95 percent of the country’s $600 billion+ food and grocery market.

It said Kiranas’ have proven to be a lifeline for Indian consumers, and the economic engine for the country.

It also said technology, supply chain, and fintech solutions from startups like Jumbotail are poised to transform the kirana store ecosystem at an unprecedented pace and scale over the next few years and empower the kirana retailers to help them meet the emerging needs of the next generation Indian consumer.

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