Fireside leads $40m Series B for India's Ripplr
Fireside Ventures has led a USD 40m Series B round for India-based distribution and logistics platform Ripplr. The round comprised USD 28m in equity funding and USD 12m in debt.
Other participants included Bikaji and Neo Foods as well as existing investors 3one4 Capital, Zephyr Peacock and Japan’s Sojitz Corporation. The debt providers were Stride Ventures, Alteria Capital, Northern Arc Investments, and Trifecta Capital.
3one4 and Sprout Venture Partners were the first investors, contributing an undisclosed sum in early 2020, according to AVCJ Research. A Series A round of USD 3m was announced the following year, with Zephyr Peacock taking the lead. 3one4 and Yukti Securities – the family office of Sohil Chand, part of the India founding team at Norwest Venture Partners – also took part.
Later in 2021, the company raised a USD 12m pre-Series B round – comprising equity and debt – from Sojitz, Stride, Zephyr Peacock, 3one4, and Yuktki.
Founded in 2019 by Abhishek Nehru and Santosh Dabke, Ripplr claims to be building India’s largest digital-first distribution platform. Its offering includes a plug-and-play distribution network, data-driven analytics, and operational visibility. The company works with more than 25 brands and covers 65,000 retail outlets, processing 171,000 orders per month through 22 warehouses across 12 cities.
Ripplr – which is already profitable on an operational basis – is a distributor for brands such as Unilever, Tata Consumer Products, Reckitt Benckiser, Nestle, Nivea, L’Oréal, Wipro, and Bikaji. On the logistics side, it serves Licious, BigBasket, Grofers, 7-Eleven, Zomato, Grab, Kirana Bazaar, and Captain Fresh.
The new funding will be used to improve the company’s technology platform, enlarge its team, and extend its geographic coverage. At present, Ripplr is largely present in south India and there are ambitions to become a truly pan-Indian player.
“With this round, we are aiming to increase our geographical footprints in India to solve the reach and visibility complications faced by all the FMCG [fast moving consumer goods] brands in offline distribution and supply chain,” Nehru and Dabke said in a joint statement cited by local media.
Fireside is currently deploying its third fund, which closed on INR 18.3bn (USD 225m) in late 2022.
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