ElasticRun Raises $300 Million In SoftBank-Led Funding Round To Turn Unicorn
The investment values Pune-based ElasticRun, which enables brands to reach kirana stores in rural areas, at $1.5 billion.
ElasticRun, a kirana e-commerce platform, has turned into a unicorn after raising $300 million (about Rs 2,252 crore) in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund II.
The investment values the company—that enables brands to reach kirana stores in rural areas through its crowdsourced logistics network—at $1.5 billion (about Rs 11,263 crore), its spokesperson told BloombergQuint over the phone.
Goldman Sachs, Chimera Capital, Innoven and existing investor Prosus, according to a statement, have also participated in the funding.
The six-year-old company aims to use the capital to expand its presence in the rural areas in over two dozen Indian states, and expand credit facilities for retailers. The startup was founded by Sandeep Deshmukh, Saurabh Nigam and Shitiz Bansal, all of whom worked as software engineers at logistics services provider DHL, and held positions in other major companies such as Apple, Amazon, and Procter & Gamble.
Deshmukh, co-founder and chief executive at ElasticRun, in the statement said through the pandemic the company’s robust logistics and channel framework ensured uninterrupted supply and support to its rural kirana partners.
More than 1 crore of ElasticRun’s 1.2 crore kiranas are in rural markets, it said. Some of its partners include Amazon, Coca Cola, Procter & Gamble, Kellogg’s, as well as Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd.