Mobile B2B marketplace Wydr raises Series A funding

Mobile business-to-business (B2B) marketplace Wydr has raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding from Stellaris Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and Jungle Ventures, according to a press statement. Axis Capital from Singapore also participated in the round.

The company will utilise the funds to expand its seller base across wholesale hubs and introduce new categories, among other things.

"The wholesale market in India is extremely unorganised and fragmented. We believe there is significant headroom for technology innovation and business growth in this segment," said Amit Anand, founding and managing partner, Jungle Ventures.

Gurgaon-based Wydr, run by Techwider Network India Pvt. Ltd, was founded in March 2016 by Devesh Rai, an IIM-Calcutta alumnus who was also a founding member of ShopClues. He has also worked with Mail Today and Headstrong in the past.

The app-based marketplace connects manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, and offers products across categories like fashion, home, automotive and electronics. Wydr claims to have more than 1,000 merchants and over 2 lakh retailers on the app.

"Wydr enables data-led inventory buying for its buyers, selling analytics and match-making algorithms. Currently, we are expanding our product portfolio and bringing more merchants onboard," said Rai.

Other deals in segment B2B marketplace Udaan.com raised an early-stage investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners in November.

Moglix, a B2B e-commerce company specialising in the procurement of industrial products, raised Rs 28 crore ($4.2 million) in a Series A round of funding led by Accel Partners, along with Jungle Ventures and SeedPlus, in October.

In 2016, Kalaari Capital and SAIF Partners-backed Industrybuying.com raised Rs 12 crore ($1.8 million) in debt financing from venture debt provider Trifecta Capital.

In October, Bizongo raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Accel Partners. Bizongo procures and sells packaging materials such as boxes, containers, pouches, bags etc for industries such as food & hospitality, FMCG, retail & wholesale and e-commerce.