E-commerce enabler KartRocket tops up Series B funding round with $2M more

Delhi-based BigFoot Retail Solutions Pvt Ltd, the startup behind KartRocket.com, a do-it-yourself (DIY) e-commerce platform for Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) and retailers, has completed its $8 million Series B funding round by raising capital from existing investors and an unnamed Japanese investor.

In January, Techhcircle.in had reported that the startup managed to raise $6 million in Series B funds from Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) and existing investors.

Existing investors of the company include Bertelsmann India Investments, Nirvana Digital India Fund, Nirvana Digital Investment Holding Co Ltd, US-based 500 Start-Ups and Singapore-based Beenext which participated in the recent round of funding. The additional $2 million came from the Japanese investor.

The startup plans to use the fresh round of funding to enhance mobile-first O2O marketplace Kraftly, which is targeting small seller communities and homepreneurs in India in long tail categories such as apparel, accessories and crafts.

The platform can be accessed via web as well as both Android and iOS apps.

"Keeping in mind Kraftly's vision of allowing every seller to participate in e-commerce, the investment will help us with product development, talent acquisition, seller eco-system development and performance marketing," Saahil Goel, CEO and co-founder, KartRocket, said.

"To expand the scope of our business in India's fast growing e-commerce industry, we have appointed Ankit Sood, who has taken over as chief financial officer, and Akshay Ghulati, who has joined as chief business officer, for Kraftly. Their presence will help in bolstering the company's growth," he added.

Founded in 2012, the firm provides a DIY e-commerce platform that enables Indian SMEs to launch their own e-commerce sites. The offerings include a number of storefront designs, domestic and international payment options, a shipping platform (ShipRocket) integrated with domestic and international logistic carriers, as well as a single shipping dashboard that helps SMEs manage their shipping and returns.

Stores on KartRocket are already mobile ready, and the company also helps SMBs sell more (and gain new customers) by integrating the ability to sell and manage orders across top marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon at the click of a button.

In 2014, KartRocket.com had raised $2 million in its Series A round of funding, led by Nirvana Venture Advisors, an India-focused early-stage technology fund, with participation from existing investor 500 Startups, besides Beenos Asia Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Japanese e-commerce and incubation company Netprice.

Prior to that, in 2013, it had raised an undisclosed amount in angel funding from 5ideas Startup Superfuel and 500 Startups, with participation from Jatin Aneja, partner at Amarchand Mangaldas.