Jumbotail plans expansion with Rs 151 crore funding boost
The co., plans to use the funds to expand its go-to-market products and services for new and emerging brands, aiming to reach mass-market consumers through its nationwide kirana store network
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Hyderabad: Jumbotail, an online B2B marketplace and retail platform, recently announced raising Rs 151 crore in Series C3 equity funding led by Artal Asia Pte Ltd. Other participants in the funding round included Heron Rock, Sabre Investment, Arkam Ventures, Jarvis Reserve Fund, Reaction Global, VII Ventures, and more.
The company plans to use the funds to expand its GTM (go-to-market) products and services for new and emerging brands, aiming to reach mass-market consumers through its nationwide kirana store network. Jumbotail is focused on developing AI-driven technologies to increase customer wallet share by leveraging its deep sourcing capabilities in FMCG and staples, and its industry-leading Kirana supply chain.
Co-founder and COO Ashish Jhina stated, "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 added, "We expect to be fully profitable on an operational basis across our entire network before the end of 2024."
Since Artal's first investment in Jumbotail in 2021, the company has continued to demonstrate its differentiation and market leadership in the digital enablement of the kirana ecosystem. Benjamin Felt, Board Member of Jumbotail and Managing Director of Invus, the global advisor of Artal, commented on this progress.
Jumbotail also revealed that it has raised $143 million in equity from prominent investors such as Artal, Heron Rock, Nexus Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Jumbo Fund, and Arkam Ventures. Additionally, the company secured $14 million in Venture Debt from leading venture debt firms Alteria Capital and Innoven Capital.
Founded by Karthik and Ashish, both Stanford MBA Class of 2011 alumni, the company's founder’s roots are grounded in diverse backgrounds. Ashish, a graduate of IIT-Delhi, previously worked as a consultant at BCG and is also a professional farmer. Karthik served in the Indian Army in challenging combat situations and is a seasoned marketplace product veteran, having led technology products at eBay US and Flipkart.
Jumbotail believes in addressing the challenges of India's food and grocery ecosystem by initially focusing on solving demand-side issues at scale. With over 10 million kirana stores in India, which constitute 96% of the $450 billion food and grocery market these neighbourhood mom-and-pop stores are the country's economic backbone.
In 2015, amidst the proliferation of B2C online models, Jumbotail identified a significant opportunity in serving kirana stores. The company took a bold step by creating a wholesale marketplace that connects these stores to their supplier ecosystem, including staples producers, traders, and FMCG brands.
Despite being a technology and AI-driven company, Jumbotail believes in being human-centric with operational excellence and strong business fundamentals being its base. The company’s in-house supply chain and logistics system is specifically tailored to cater to wholesale food and grocery e-commerce in India. They emphasized a hands-on approach, gaining deep insights into user needs and behaviours, and combining qualitative insights with quantitative data to enhance customer experience and provide greater value. Jumbotail aspires to revolutionize India's food and grocery ecosystem a sector that attends to 1.3 billion people.
