Omnichannel retailer Rozana bags Rs 290 Cr in Series B funding round led by BII

Rozana, a rural-focused omnichannel retail platform, has raised Rs 290 crore in a Series B funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII).

Fireside Ventures, US-based Spark Growth Ventures, Bikaji Family Office, FE Securities, and other prominent family offices also participated in the round.

The company plans to use the capital to expand to more than 200 stores, up from the current network of 86 stores, and enter two to three new northern states across the Gangetic belt and more districts in Uttar Pradesh. The funds will also be used to strengthen technology infrastructure, expand product categories, develop private label offerings, and deepen brand partnerships.

The retailer operates an omnichannel model that integrates an app and a digital commerce platform with modern retail stores. Its last-mile fulfilment network has over 35,000 women partners in local communities, who serve as intermediaries and fulfilment agents.

To capture a larger wallet share of consumers, Rozana is expanding its product assortment beyond FMCG and grocery. New categories include fashion, electronics, home care, footwear, toys, books, and hardware.

Ankur Dahiya, Co-founder at Rozana, told YourStory, "We realised that we can ensure that a large part of our assortment goes as a private label. We launched our first private label in the snacks category about one-and-a-half months ago, and we are already seeing great traction.

"About 3% of our monthly revenue has already started coming from that. Instead of calling it a private label, we would, over time, like to position it as a brand."

Rozana expects to close the current financial year with a revenue of around Rs 600 crore. It is targeting a three-fold growth for the next financial year.

While the company is not yet profitable, Rozana's immediate focus is on scale and customer acquisition over bottom-line growth. “The focus of the company is to grow and go to more customers rather than focusing on profitability," said Dahiya.

Bertelsmann India Investments has doubled down on Rozana after leading its $22.5-million fundraise in 2024. It said the company's revenue has gone up 4x since its last round. To date, Rozana has raised over $30 million across its funding rounds.

“When we placed our bet on Rozana, we were looking at it from the lens of creating a new category instead of worrying about competition," Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director of of Bertelsmann India Investments told YourStory, emphasising that operating in rural markets allows the company to stay away from the kind of stiff competition seen in Tier II and III cities.

Co-founded in 2021 by Ankur Dahiya, Adwait Vikram Singh, and Mukesh Christopher, Rozana operates in 17 districts across Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The platform reaches over 1 million active households across 21,000 villages in the Gangetic plains.

Feature image (L to R): Adwait Vikram Singh, Ankur Dahiya and Mukesh Christopher, Co-founders of Rozana