Rural Commerce Startup VilCart Raises $13 Million In Funding
VilCart, a rural commerce startup, has raised $13 million in a Series A funding round. Led by Asia Impact, the funding round also saw participation from NABARD-backed equity fund Nabventures and Texterity.
First reported by Entrackr, VilCart’s board has passed a special resolution to issue 68,761 Series A and 405 Series A1 compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) at an issue price of Rs 15,411.6 per share to raise Rs 106.6 crore or around $13 million, as per company’s regulatory filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
As per the startup, the raised funds will be utilized for the purpose of operations and business development.
Vilcart | Bridge To Rural Kirana
Founded by Prasanna Kumar, along with co-founders—Mahesh Bhat, Rajasekhar, and Amith S Mali, in 2018, VilCart helps village kirana stores easily procure inventory and manage logistics and supply chains.
The startup claims to be revolutionizing the rural unorganized retail industry through technology, a robust supply chain, and logistics facilities. It is working towards sustainable rural development through stability for rural retailers.
Started business in one district in Karnataka, the rural commerce startup has now rapidly expanded to multiple districts, including Mandya, Kolar, and Bengaluru rural. The rural commerce startup currently services nearly 5,000 villages in Karnataka and has 45,000 kirana stores on its network.
In this round, Asia Impact invested Rs 91.96 crore, followed by Nabventures Fund—an agri, food, and rural-focused venture capital fund started by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)—which invested Rs 14 crore, whereas Texterity Private Limited infused Rs 62 lakh.
Post the funding round, Asia Impact holds a 31.28% stake in VilCart, while NabVentures own a 12.36% stake in the rural commerce startup. Test Yantra Software Solutions and Texterity Private Limited own 3.18% stakes and 0.17%, respectively.
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