NinjaCart raises $35 million from Accel, Syngenta Ventures
NinjaCart, a platform for marketing and delivering agricultural produce has raised Series B funding of US$ 35 million (₹250 crore), a round that was led by Accel Partners (US) and Switzerland’s Syngenta Ventures apart from new investors Neoplux, ZiGeXn founder Jo Hirao, Russian firm HR Capital and venture debt firm Trifecta Capital.
Besides this, the round also saw participation from Accel India, Nandan Nilekani NRJN Trust, Misteltoe and Qualcomm Venture, who are existing investors. The Bengaluru-based company has raised over $49 million so far, and is planning to leverage the investment to expand operations to 10 cities, set up 200 distribution centres and improve supply chain infrastructure. Currently in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, the startup is planning to expand in New Delhi and Mumbai by 2019.
Its founders include Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Ashutosh Vikram, Kartheeswaran K.K., Sachin Jose and Sharath Loganathan. NinjaCart connects farmers supplying fruits and vegetables to last-mile retailers like grocery stores, supermarkets and restaurants.
It has set up a logistics network to ensure quick pick up and delivery over 60 tonnes of farm produce per day. Farmers are getting around 15–20% better returns in terms of revenue according to reports, which has enabled the company to build a farmer network of around 3,000.
It serves 4,000 retailers daily and envisions expanding its reach to 10,000 retailers by March 2019.
