CMM Group and Ecosystem Ventures led the $1.2 Mn funding round in Bengaluru-based logistics-tech startup StackBOX. India’s general trade market comprising of Kirana stores still accounts for 75% of FMCG sales despite the growth of e-commerce and hypermarkets. StackBOX is helping B2B e-commerce, FMCG, Cash & Carry companies solve their B2B last-mile fulfillment problem. StackBOX is setting up a network of multi-brand Micro Fulfillment Centers, Cross docks and Dark stores powered by cutting edge technology including proprietary routing optimization, party level packaging etc.
With initial market research and a couple of successful pilots, Shanmukha Boora and Sabyasachi Bhattacharjee worked for more than a year to figure out the product-market fit and later in 2018, StackBox kicked off along with other Co-Founders Venktesh Kumar and Nitin Mamodia. With a core team comprised of alumni from IITs, IIMs, and ISB and top customers like Flipkart, ITC, P&>, Dabur, Britannia, Udaan among others – StackBOX is bound for an exponential growth trajectory.
StackBOX has grown 4X in Revenue in the last 12 months and is operational in Hyderabad, Delhi NCR, Chennai and delivering 50,000+ Orders of retailers per month. They are already working with several large FMCG and B2B e-commerce companies and have a huge pipeline of customers. With this funding, they plan to set up more fulfillment centers to service customers in different geographies.
“StackBOX not only has a huge opportunity to capture the $800 billion Indian retail market but is also making inroads into international markets with their FMCG-focused last-mile distribution solutions,” said Abhijeet Bhandari, co-founder, Ecosystem Ventures.
Co-founder, Shanmukha said “Well, in any market, every brand has a separate supply chain to serve the same set of retailers through distributors. Now, what if we build a single, combined super-pipeline to deliver to all these retailers. This removes all the redundancies and brings in efficiency by scale. In order to do that, we need to look at the supply chain of B2B from first principles thinking.”
Managing Director, Venktesh Kumar who was earlier supply chain Head of ITC added “There are a lot of inefficiencies in the current Food and FMCG Retail Distribution as no one has used technology to solve this problem at scale. We are bringing visibility and efficiency by digitizing B2B last-mile delivery (to Kiranas) and automation & tech interventions are key to drive this”
Ecosystem Ventures is a group of experienced founders and investors who have built multiple companies, invested, and helped scores of ventures. Ecosystem Ventures invests in disruptive startups along with a network of 200 plus angel investors, family offices, and micro VCs. While Ecosystem Ventures has deep expertise in edtech, fintech, Logistic-tech, and health tech, they are sector agnostic in nature. Ecosystem Ventures has raised $320 Mn for its portfolio companies which includes successful startups like WhiteHat Jr., Pariksha, GeoIQ, Saarthi, Navigene, StackBOX, Credilio among many others. Ecosystem Ventures also helps accelerate venture growth by providing mentorship and support across technology, sales and marketing, team expansion, product planning, financial planning, etc.
Source: Business World
