B2B ecommerce startup ShopX raises $35 M from Hong Kong based investor
Bengaluru-based B2B ecommerce startup ShopX has raised $35 million from Fund Strategic Holdings Limited (FSH) headquartered in Hong Kong. With the fresh funding, ShopX plans to expand to lakhs of small merchants, strengthen its product and technology, and build new offerings covering multiple product verticals.
Founded by Amit Sharma and Apoorva Jois in 2015, ShopX had earlier raised $18 million from Infosys co-founder and angel investor Nandan Nilekani.
ShopX aggregates small businesses into a network, enabling B2B and B2B2C commerce and credit. It aims to connect brands and suppliers to small retailers through its app and digitise their value chains and distribution systems.
In a press release, Rajesh Ranavat, Executive Director of Fung Strategic Holdings said, “ShopX has a huge opportunity to transform India’s current retail landscape and be a real pioneer in terms of creating the future of what’s possible for the retail ecosystem in India from the consumer to the supplier, retailer or brand. We’re proud to be their strategic partner and we’re very excited at the potential growth ahead.”
The FSH operates across the entire global supply chain for consumer goods including sourcing, logistics, distribution, and retail.
Omnichannel focus
ShopX’s omnichannel platform aims to enable one million small retailers as digital hubs for ordering, delivery, returns and customer service for 400 million consumers. ShopX covers 50,000 retailers across 300 towns and claims to do over Rs 500 crore in annualised transaction volume. It works with leading brands across the FMCG and mobile categories.
CEO Amit says that ShopX aims to be a globally transformative company out of India, with a deep product and technology-led culture.
“Having the right investors in an ambitious venture like ShopX is paramount. Nandan has helped us not only with capital but also significantly enhanced our vision with his strategic guidance and helped instil sound operating values. We could not have asked for more in an early stage investor. As we plan for hyper-growth, we are extremely excited to have a global supply chain leader like the Fung Group as our strategic investor. We expect deep synergies in the areas of supply chain orchestration, global sourcing, introduction to new brands and overall retail distribution," he added.
In the extremely unorganised Indian retail sector, 12 million small merchants constitute about 90 percent of the Indian consumption economy of $700 billion. (The online channel contributes hardly two percent of the consumption space, while supermarkets and hypermarkets represent about 7.5 percent.)
Needless to say, ShopX is looking at a huge market. According to Nandan Nilekani, ShopX provides small retailers the same cutting-edge technology and supply chain solutions that established ecommerce or retailers access.
“This provides an onboarding ramp into the formal economy for millions of retailers and the next 400 million consumers. ShopX has been built on scalable and sound business principles like platform thinking, capital efficiency and a sustainable growth model,” he said in a press release.
