Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy invests in B2B e-commerce startup Moglix

B2B industrial goods e-commerce marketplace Moglix announced today that it had onboarded Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy as an investor in his personal capacity.

Kalyan, who was earlier Managing Director at venture capital firm Tiger Global, is an investor in several startups, including home rental venture Nestaway and wellness chain Cure.fit. This is his first investment in the B2B e-commerce space, according to Moglix. The amount of investment was not disclosed.

Moglix had earlier raised a $23 million Series C funding round in December 2018 to strengthen its B2B distribution network and supply chain across India and expanding into new market segments.

Individual investors in the company include former TATA Sons Chairman Ratan Tata and Shailesh Rao, Ex-VP Twitter and Google. Moglix counts the likes of Accel Partners, Jungle Ventures, Venture Highway and International Finance Corporation and InnoVen Capital among its investors.

Moglix was founded in 2015 by Rahul Garg, and it aims to digitally transform the supply chain of the manufacturing sector in India.

Commenting on the investment, Kalyan said, “I am happy to join the Moglix team as an investor in my personal capacity. Moglix, under Rahul’s leadership, has charted impressive growth in the B2B commerce space…It is gratifying to be able to support this home-grown industrial B2B leader at this important juncture.”

Welcoming the investment from Kalyan, Rahul Garg, Founder & CEO, Moglix said, “It’s great to have Kalyan back as an investor and join an illustrious list of global investors who have believed in Moglix’s potential. Kalyan has played an important role in shaping ecommerce in India and his experience in scaling businesses will serve as a guiding light for us as we execute on our vision to transform B2B commerce and the Indian manufacturing sector using technology and innovation.”

According to Moglix, India’s B2B e-commerce market is expected to expand significantly over the coming decade, making it a major growth area for the economy.

“Research suggests it will likely assume a size that will be double the estimated USD 200 billion market of B2C e-commerce by 2026. Technological disruptions, however, remain key with a vast majority of the existing B2B market still in the unorganised space in India,” the statement said.

Moglix operates 12 centres in India and caters to both institutional customers (B2B) and individual customers (B2C) in the manufacturing sector. Its team of 450 currently focuses on the automotive, metals, mining, and fast-moving consumer durables (FMCD) markets.