B2B grocery startup Jumbotail adds $11 mn to funding cart

Business-to-business (B2B) grocery delivery startup Jumbotail Technologies has raised $11 million in an ongoing round dubbed as Series B2. 

The funding was led by omni-stage venture fund Heron Rock and Jumbofund. Nexus Venture Partners, Siddhi Capital, Reaction Fund, Pimpernel Holdings and a group of HNIs (high net-worth individuals) also participated in the round. 

The Bengaluru-headquartered firm had previously raised Rs 90 crore (around $12.5 million) in a Series B round of funding led by Heron Rock in June 2019. 

Jumbotail will use the funds to scale its core B2B marketplace to new geographies across India, expand its network of J24 stores, grow its private label product portfolio and to extend its go-to-market services to more FMCG brands seeking entry into kirana stores and standalone supermarkets across the country, the statement added.

Founded in 2015 by Stanford University batchmates Karthik Venkateswaran and Ashish Jhina, Jumbotail connects kirana stores with brands and producers via its marketplace.  It claims to serve 30,000 kirana stores via its full stack e-commerce model consisting of its B2B marketplace platform, warehouses, last-mile delivery supply chain network, and a fintech platform for payment and credit solutions to kirana store owners. 

Jumbotail said its new retail platform transforms kirana stores into modern omni-channel convenience grocery stores under the J24 brand within 24-48 hours - offering kirana retailers a full suite of in-store technology and insights, daily fulfillment of thousands of products, a B2C online store as well as loyalty solutions. It also helps stores with omnichannel integrations with hyperlocal platforms such as Dunzo and Swiggy.

“We have built a very capital efficient and operationally profitable business by focusing on solving problems for kiranas. We enjoy tremendous goodwill from our kirana customers on the back of our best-in-class convenience and service, which remained uninterrupted even during the Covid lockdowns. Our J24 store network is emerging as the ecosystem of choice for kirana store owners looking to seamlessly transform their kiranas into modern grocery stores, and to compete better in an increasingly technology-driven retail world,” Jhina, said.

“We are doubling down on our investment in Jumbotail as we believe they are best positioned to transform food & grocery retail in India,” Tom Williams, general partner of Heron Rock said.

Jumbotail competes with the newly launched Flipkart Wholesale , Amazon’s B2B marketplace Amazon Business; Udaan, which was founded by former Flipkart employees, Reliance Market, along with venture capital-backed startups such as Bijnis and Ninjacart.