LOGISTICS & DISTRIBUTION STARTUP – ELASTICRUN RAISES $75 MILLION IN SERIES D ROUND

Bringing e-commerce to Kirana’s & enabling them to reach the deeper rural areas in India, ElasticRun, a Pune-based startup connects FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) and e-commerce companies with rural mom-and-pop stores to increase visibility & networking. Bringing banks & non-banking financial institutions closer & more accessible to underserviced SME customers through its rural Kirana network, and helping them secure working capital & inventory from top brands.

Tapping into this opportunity, ElasticRun is making it easier and convenient for merchants operating in these rural areas to get reliable & affordable goods directly from bigger brands aiming to reach a larger customer base. Founded by Sandeep Deshmukh, Shitiz Bansal, and Saurabh Nigam in 2016, ElasticRun has grown to operate in more than 300 cities across India having reached over 125,000 neighborhood stores. Moreover, the company has been considerably making strides towards utilizing this rural workforce by partnering with big eCommerce firms including Amazon & Flipkart to make deliveries to customers in the rural customer base. Facilitating technology into the Kirana network, ElasticRun aims to build a platform for transactions, credit, and data analytics & become the de facto channel for Indian businesses to reach the underserviced rural markets. The startup has over 100 brands, including top FMCG players such as HUL, P&G, ITC, Marico, Britannia Industries, Colgate, Nivea, Patanjali, and Dabur, eCommerce giants Amazon, Flipkart & Myntra.  

Having raised a total of $132.1 Million over 6 rounds with their latest Series D round raising $75 Million (Rs. 550 crores) led by Kalaari Capital, Avatar Ventures, and Prosus Ventures. The company also boasts marquee investors such as InnoVen Capital and Norwest Venture Partners. Speaking on the investment, Sandeep Deshmukh, Co-Founder & CEO, ElasticRun, said, “Over the last 18 months, our consumer products and food business serving the rural Kirana shops has seen dramatic growth.

The COVID-19 pandemic has enhanced focus for many brands towards rural markets, and our model has enabled us to deliver real value to them and grow our brand basket significantly. We expect 2021 to be our biggest year yet and are looking to more than triple our business over the next 12 months.” Further, Nigam, COO & Co-founder, ElasticRun added, “We want to expand our network to onboard at least a million retail outlets over the next 12-18 months and we need money for that expansion, besides spending on technology development.” Mohan Kumar, managing partner, Avataar Venture Partners, said that “ElasticRun’s focus on using deep technology to address the need for commerce marketplaces has helped it scale rapidly, delivering much broader distribution for consumer product brands.”

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