Matrix Partners, Sequoia lead $10 mn funding in B2B marketplace Bijnis

BizCrum Infotech, which owns online wholesale sourcing platform Bijnis, has raised $10 million in a Series A round of funding co-led by venture capital firms Matrix Partners India and Sequoia Capital India. 

Existing investors InfoEdge and Waterbridge Ventures also participated in the round.

Bijnis will use the fresh capital to build more products and scalable technology focused on manufacturers in the footwear and fashion categories, according to a statement.

“Traditional supply chains across fashion and footwear category are highly unorganised and fragmented in India. The industry is at the brink of massive transformation thanks to rapid digitization across various layers in these supply chains. Bijnis is leveraging these trends to build the next-gen product for small manufacturers who are the backbone of these supply chains in India,” Shraeyansh Thakur, vice president at Sequoia Capital India LLP, said.

Founded in 2015 by Siddharth Vij, Chaitanya Rathi, Siddharth Rastogi and Shubham Agarwal, the company was originally a footwear marketplace under the name ShoeKonnect. 

It embarked on a substantial pivot early last year to launch a mobile application named Bijnis where footwear, apparel, and accessories retailers can purchase products directly from sellers across the country. It offers doorstep delivery, payment on delivery, quality checks and return and refund services. 

The platform enables sellers to create an e-distribution channel to sell directly and receive orders from retailers across India besides managing the payments and transportation for them.

"Traditional B2B supply chains are still largely unorganised and fragmented. There lies an immense opportunity in building a digital ecosystem around the same. Building the model for one category over the last three years has helped us understand the problems that lie at the core of unorganized supply chains,” Vij, chief executive officer and co-founder of Bijnis, said.

The startup claims to have a network of more than 400 manufacturers serving over 60,000 retailers.

IndiaMart is the most significant B2B success story in the country’s online commerce space. Founded in 1996, IndiaMart runs an online B2B platform for small and medium businesses that connects global buyers with suppliers. The company operates in nearly 55 categories including industrial plants and machinery, building and construction, industrial supplies, apparel and garments, food and beverages, hospital and diagnosis instrument and electronics and electricals. The initial public offering of IndiaMart InterMesh was fully covered on the second day of the issue last week.

Bengaluru-based Hiveloop Technology, which operates the business-to-business e-commerce platform Udaan, is the most funded and valued startup in this segment. 

According to its recent valuation report, Udaan claimed to have reached a valuation of Rs 53,365.4 crore (about $7.5 billion) after taking into account projected cash flows for nine financial years and equity capital infusions expected over a three-year period. 

Hiveloop Technology’s Singapore-based parent, Trustroot Internet, raised a $585 million equity capital round last year from investors such as Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent Holdings, Altimeter Capital, Footpath Ventures, Hillhouse Capital, GGV Capital and Citi Ventures. The round, which was announced in October last year, took the total capital raised by Trustroot Internet to $870 million.

Other major players in the overall online B2B space include Jumbotail, Ninjacart, Zetwerk, and Infra.Market.   

B2B manufacturing services marketplace Zetwerk raised $21 million in a Series C funding round led by returning investor Greenoaks Capital early this month. 

Mumbai-based B2B procurement marketplace for real estate and construction materials Infra.Market raised $26 million in a Series A round led by Tiger Global Management recently. Nexus Venture Partners participated in the round along with returning investor Accel.  

In December last year, Walmart and its Indian ecommerce arm Flipkart made a joint investment in Ninjacart, a B2B marketplace for agricultural produce that connects farmers and retailers.