ApnaKlub, FMCG wholesale platform for low population density markets, has announced it has raised $10 million in its Series A funding from Tiger Global. This follows the $4 million round they raised from Sequoia India’s Surge, Blume Ventures, Whiteboard Capital and Flourish Ventures in August 2021.
How it works
ApnaKlub focuses on social sellers and kirana-store owners from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. With ApnaKlub, a user can digitise their wholesale business as a rural wholesaler or expand their business as a shopkeeper.
ApnaKlub allows anyone with a smartphone and a highly entrepreneurial drive to earn supplemental income by aggregating demand and supplying FMCG goods to retail (kirana) stores in their local community. ApnaKlub takes care of order aggregation, transport, inventory handling and provides a zero capital model.
Where will be funds be used?
The funding will be used to deepen infrastructure in key states, expand the platform from 5000 to 20,000 partners and build out the credit product.
Who are the founders?
ApnaKlub was incubated with Whiteboard Capital in 2020 by Shruti and Manish who come with strong complementary backgrounds across product, strategy and FMCG distribution. Shruti is a gold medallist from IIT Delhi and an MBA from Harvard business school with professional work experience at Bain & Omidyar. Manish comes with intensive experience in retail and FMCG having held leadership roles at Walmart India, Metro Cash & Carry and Future Group.
Shruti, Co-Founder & CEO, ApnaKlub, said, “ApnaKlub helps retailers and traders in Tier 2 and 3 cities of India to leverage their collective demand and geographic presence, into a flourishing retail business, which provides greater consumer choice and delight, by providing access to a wider range of products at comparable margins, as well as better credit and logistics terms than status quo.”
Manish, Co-Founder and COO, ApnaKlub, said, "ApnaKlub brings the convenience of digital wholesale supply to tier 2 & tier 3 smartphone users. It also creates opportunities for regional brands to list their products and earn better by reaching a wider audience across India."
Investor Speak
John Curtius, Partner at Tiger Global, said, "Indian CPG retail is a $100 billion opportunity and kirana stores own the majority of current distribution channels. ApnaKlub is arming retailers and brands with the digital supply chain and credit tools to win across online and offline channels. Shruti and Manish have built a rapidly growing platform based on deep customer insights."
Ashish Fafadia, Partner at Blume Ventures said, "The additional capital raise allows the company to further expand its footprint and create a unique supply chain that’s relevant to the growing needs of Bharat."
“As partners with the ApnaKlub team since inception of the business, we have been lucky to witness the amazing business growth achieved by the team with a strong focus on unit profitability”, said Anshu Prasher, General Partner at Whiteboard Capital.
