Delhi-based B2B commerce and supply chain platform MaxWholesale has raised a seed round of funding led by investment bank Maple Capital Advisors.
The firm has raised around Rs 1 crore (around $150,000), Samarth Agrawal, co-founder of MaxWholesale, told VCCircle.
Abhinav Grover, director at Maple Accelerator, who also participated in this round, will join the board of MaxWholesale. Other investors include Delhi-based high net-worth individual Ridhish Talwar and a few investment bankers from New York.
The startup plans to use the funds to scale existing operations and strengthen its technology platform.
Owned by 99 Algorithms Pvt. Ltd, MaxWholesale was founded in April 2016 by Agrawal and Rohit Narang. The startup supplies products directly from companies to mom-and-pop stores across the country. This, it says, helps companies reduce inventory lead time and improve profitability.
It uses data science-based tools and real-time optimization algorithms, and claims to reduce distribution cost for companies and increase the return on investment for mom-and-pop stores.
Some of its partner companies are Patanjali, Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Cadbury. It claims to have tied up with around 1,000 mom-and-pop stores in Delhi. The MaxWholesale app is available for both Android and iOS users. Users can also access the platform through any Internet browser.
Agarwal, an alumnus of IIT Delhi and Columbia University, specialises in building mathematical algorithms and tech products. Narang comes from a traditional brick-and mortar retailing background with 16 years of experience running family-owned stores in Delhi.
Pankaj Karna, managing director at Maple Capital, said B2B retail will change significantly on the back of mobile Internet penetration. “The tangible value to mom-and-pop stores who are now mobile/ data-enabled and receptive to FMCG suppliers is encouraging. The efficiency and scalability of the business model combined with the scope of data analytics has potential to unlock significant value,†Karna said.
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