Bengaluru, October 26, 2020: Jumbotail, a new retail platform and B2B marketplace for food and grocery products, has closed an $11M Series B2 round of funding led by Heron Rock, with participation from Jumbofund, Nexus Venture Partners, Siddhi Capital, Reaction Fund, Pimpernel Holdings and a group of HNIs and industry leaders.
Jumbotail serves kirana stores via its full stack e-commerce model consisting of its B2B marketplace platform, an industry leading warehousing and last-mile delivery supply chain network, and a fintech platform for payment and credit solutions to kirana store owners. Jumbotail’s 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 to better connect retailers to their consumers, in addition to omnichannel integrations with hyperlocal platforms such as Dunzo and Swiggy.
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.
Jumbotail was founded by S.Karthik Venkateswaran, and Ashish Jhina, Stanford MBA classmates. Karthik served with the Indian army in hard combat and is a marketplaces product veteran from eBay-US and Flipkart. Ashish Jhina is a 3rd generation apple farmer, and a former consultant with BCG, with deep experience in agricultural production and supply chains.
Says Ashish Jhina, Co-founder, Jumbotail, “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.”
Sameer Brij Verma, Managing Director, Nexus Venture Partners, adds, “Jumbotail’s New Retail platform powering J24 Stores is revolutionary, and their full stack approach is likely the most cost efficient and scalable way to modernize kirana stores. We have been firm believers in the team and their approach from the very beginning”.
An estimated 12 million kirana stores in India control more than 95% of the country’s $450B food and grocery market. Technology, supply chain, and fintech solutions from startups like Jumbotail are poised to transform the kirana store ecosystem at an unprecedented pace and scale over the next few years.
