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Snapshot

Founded in 2021, Mumbai-headquartered Zepto is an instant grocery delivery service. The company promises to deliver groceries in 10 minutes through a network of dark stores and micro warehouses.

Rather than relying on discounts or offers to attract customers, Zepto focuses on getting customers through its speed, reliability, and efficiency.

Within only 6 months of inception, the company raised $160M from notable investors in Silicon Valley and India. Zepto’s last funding round was in December 2021 when it raised $100M in a Series C round, bringing its total valuation to $570M.

With 100 dark stores and a presence in 10 major metro cities, Zepto reportedly has multiple of India’s delivery players interested in purchasing the company including Zomato and Swiggy. According to reports, Zomato made a payout offer of $1B for the company.

On the Web: Website, Linkedin

Business Overview & Products

Zepto’s grocery platform offers to deliver over 2500 products to its customers in under 10 minutes. These include farm-fresh vegetables and fruits, groceries, snacks and beverages, personal care items, and home cleaning products. 

The company delivers across 10 major cities in India including Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Noida, and Pune.

How It Works

Zepto’s leverages a network of micro-warehouses, known as dark stores, to fulfil orders in under 10 minutes. These dark stores or micro warehouses are spread across high-demand neighborhoods in the cities the company operates in.

The entire process from placing an order, to packing and dispatching, takes 60 seconds or less, according to co-founder Palicha. This is because the dark stores have been custom-designed to specifically meet the requirements for quick delivery. For starters, there is the ease of navigation so that packers can swiftly move and pack items. Moreover, packers are also provided tablets so they can easily locate where each item is stored and pick an optimal route accordingly. 

While the company claims to deliver all orders in 10 minutes with a median delivery time of 8:47 minutes, 1% of orders are reportedly prone to a longer delivery time of 15-16 minutes. Customers are shown an ETA at the time of purchase.

The company claims that the average distance of a Zepto delivery is 1.8km. This is possible because of the micro-markets Zepto sets up in every city in its coverage area. Each micro-market has 1-2 dark stores which help delivery executives focus on specific areas and improve their delivery timing. As a result, Zepto riders commonly drive at a speed of <15kmph, since they only have to cover a distance of 1.8km in 10 minutes. The company claims this leads to 3.1x fewer accidents on average when compared to a regular biker on the road.

Business Model & Pricing

The company operates as a retailer, making money on the markup of items on its app. In addition, they charge INR 15-20 ($0.20-$0.26) in delivery fees from customers. 

Traction

While the company has not disclosed exact financial details yet, it has spoken in detail about the growth it has witnessed since its inception. For starters, Zepto claims to be growing 200% every month. Moreover, the company is also adding 100,000 new users to its customer base every week, out of which 60% are women. 

Ever since the company pivoted to its current 10-minute delivery model, its NPS (net promoter score) has witnessed a massive boost and remained constant at around 88.

According to co-founder Palicha, their largest city in terms of revenue generation and customer base in Mumbai. However, he also believes that there is ample untapped potential in small cities like Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Goa, etc.

Founder(s)

Aadit Palicha – CEO and Co-Founder at Zepto. A Stanford dropout previously co-founded KiranaKart and GoPool. He also worked as a Project Lead at PryvaSee. 

Kaivalya Vohra – CTO and Co-Founder at Zepto. Kaivalya, also a Stanford dropout, previously co-founded KiranaKart with Aadit Palicha.  

History & Evolution

• Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra were living in Dubai when they were admitted to Stanford’s computer science engineering program. However, after attending their online orientation, the duo dropped out and returned to Mumbai to try their hand at entrepreneurship. After having worked on several projects together, the two founders were confined at home during the coronavirus pandemic. It was during this time in 2020, that the two discovered a significant mess of execution in the online grocery delivery space. Even though grocery deliveries were categorized as essentials during the lockdown, Aadit and Kaiyavlya still struggled with getting their groceries on time. That’s when they realized the need for an online player for the grocery delivery sector in India. 

• The duo started off with KiranaKart which was a 45-minute delivery service. They later played with different models before finally coming up with Zepto, which was to be a 10-minute online grocery delivery service. Initially, the duo picked out 2,000 unique items for delivery, which included everyday items like paan, an Indian mouth freshener, flowers for worship rituals, snacks, and fresh food. Stores were arranged in a specific manner so that orders could be packed and dispatched within 90 seconds. For instance, the top 100 most purchased items were placed near the entrance for ease of packers. 

• In November 2021, after 6 months of operating in stealth mode, the company announced an early-stage round of $60M. As soon as Zepto switched to its current 10-minute delivery model, the company witnessed a spike in usage as well as a huge boost in retention.

• In 2022, Zepto partnered with LazyPay, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution, to offer customers the option of paying later for high-frequency orders. This collaboration will lead to a seamless and time-efficient checkout experience for customers and eliminate cart abandonment by a large percentage. 

• In April 2022, the company launched a 10-minute delivery service for snacks and beverages in Mumbai. The service is called Cafe and offers quick delivery of food items such as tea, coffee, samosa, and croissants. For this purpose, Zepto has partnered with companies like Blue Tokai Coffee, Chaayos, Gurukripa Snacks, and Sassy Teaspoon. However, according to co-founder Palicha, this is just a pilot whose model will be tweaked frequently until they are able to perfect the service. He also shared that the company has no plans of foraying into the food delivery space and this is merely a cafe format providing ready-to-eat snacks and beverages. 

From archive.org 

Additional Learnings

Zepto’s name comes from a mathematical term, Zeptosecond, which is the smallest time unit ever measured.

The company prides itself on creating a team of experienced individuals who previously worked at successful companies like Flipkart, Uber, Dream11, Pharmeasy, and Pepperfry. The founders believe that they were mainly able to bring these senior executives on board because it gave individuals a chance to move from Mumbai, back to their hometown Bangalore.

Zepto ensures rider safety by not offering any incentives for completing deliveries in under 10 minutes. Moreover, it also does not charge any penalty for breaching the 10 minutes bracket, which is why riders are not anxious to break traffic rules nor do they indulge in any unnecessary speeding. 

The company’s founders have been struggling with a legal crisis, ever since an FIR was filed against them by Ansh Nanda. Ansh claims that back when the company was called KiranaKart, he was promised enough equity to be counted as a co-founder. The story covered by Inc42 talks about the allegations, alleged threats involving the underworld, and more information not just regarding the trio but also Indian investors such as Suvir Sujan, Nexus’s managing director, and Y Combinator.

Market Snapshot

• India’s e-grocery market was estimated at $3.95B in 2021 and is expected to increase to $26.63B growing at a CAGR of 33% by 2027. 

• Major players in the Indian online grocery market that lead the market growth include Grofers, BigBasket, Amazon, Flipkart, Nature’s Basket, Spencer’s, and 24SEVEN. 

• E-grocery delivery is gathering traction in India due to evolving customer habits, growing urbanizations, and a tech-savvy generation that prefers online shopping. Moreover, pandemic-induced lockdown is also a major reason why consumers are shifting towards online purchases as it is not only convenient but also safer. 

Suggested starting points to dive deeper

• Forbes India - Quick Commerce: Meet The Speed Guns: Can Zepto Live Up To Its Billing? (Forbes India, January ‘22)

• Meet the 19-year old Stanford dropouts building Zepto and delivering groceries in 10 minutes (Moneycontrol, November ‘21)

• Zepto's Secret Equity Battle: Feuds, Threats & The Nexus Connection (Inc42, March ‘22)

• More gas than substance: 19-year-old founder of Zepto on rivals promising 10-min grocery (Moneycontrol, December ‘21)

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Snapshot

Founded in 2019, Whatnot is a live streaming shopping platform that lets buyers and sellers interact to exchange collectibles like Pokemon cards and Funko pops. The company has a vast catalog of products split into more than 50 categories involving trading cards, clothing, and collectibles. Sellers are provided tools to interact with customers through live shows, host auctions with a proper bidding process, and offer giveaways.

Headquartered in California, US, Whatnot has raised $224.7M in funds. Its latest funding round was held in September 2021 and brought the company’s valuation to $1.5B. The company is backed by investors like Y Combinator, Animal Capital, L2 Ventures, Operator, and more.

About Whatnot: Website, LinkedIn

Business Overview and Products

The company originally began with collectibles like FunkoPops and Pokemon Cards, but now offers over 50 categories of items. The online marketplace now offers regular categories such as sneakers and streetwear, watches and videogames, along with collectibles like NFTs and trading card games. The extensive catalog of products being bought and sold on the platform includes:

• Trading card games

• Sports

• Toys

• Comics and Manga

• Sneakers and Streetwear

• Vintage and Thrift

• Bags, Jewelry, and Accessories

• Watches

• Video Games and Movies

• NFTs

• Additional categories such as vinyl records, crystals, gems, and coins

The company also offers dedicated support staff to help both sellers and buyers ensure all transactions are safe and in unlikely cases, are available for helping both parties deal with any issues they may have with the order.

How It Works

Whatnot has a livestreaming platform that allows fan communities to interact with each other to buy and sell verified rare products like Pokemon cards and Funko Pops. The company relies on the ever-growing popularity of the live-shopping trend in the US to attract customers. 

The platform verifies streamers that, once approved, can go on-air at any time to host online video auctions for their goods. Every seller goes through a standard procedure for participating on the platform. The standard criteria for a seller to be approved are to have a good social following and a history of selling, after which the seller gets access to the community.

Once approved, sellers can start chatting and interacting with the followers, or selling products through live auctions. The seller sets a starting price and time limit for the item they would like to sell and the buyers start bidding through a click button the app offers. In case the seller does not want to auction their product, they can simply make their item available as a “Buy it Now” product and users may purchase it at any time throughout the seller show. Sellers can also offer giveaway features where viewers can be randomized and the seller can give away any product of their choosing.

Finally, Whatnot offers prepaid shipping labels to sellers through their seller dashboards on the company app. When shipping the sold items, these are simply attached to the shipment which is dispatched via USPS or Canada Post within a fixed number of days. Once the buyer has received their package, payment is received by the seller in 48-72 hours initially in the form of Whatnot credit in their account. The seller can then cash out this credit via Paypal or direct deposit to the seller's bank account.

Business Model and Pricing

The company charges sellers through a fixed fee structure, the breakdown of which is as follows:

• 8% commission is charged on the selling price of any item once a sale is finalized

• 2.9%+0.30 cents are charged as a payment processing fee for the entire transaction

  • This payment processing fee is applied to the subtotal, tax, and the shipping price that a buyer pays for any order

  • This fee is not applied to any international shipping or taxes

In a Forbes article reporting their Series B, co-founder Grant shared that the platform enables sales of millions of dollars in sports cards per month. The 8% cut the company takes was reported to make them an average of $40 per item and can range from $1 to as much as $20,000.

Traction

Specific traction metrics haven’t been shared by the company but some of the data points shared over the years include:

• The sale of sports cards form a major portion of the company’s business. This segment was reported to have grown 80x in 2021.

• Overall the company reported 60x growth over 2021.

• The company currently offers products across 50+ categories and in March 2021 shared they will be expanding to cover 100+.

• In September 2021, the company shared that there were about thousands of active sellers on the platform and the GMV was up 30x since the Series A fundraising round it raised in March ‘21.

• The company has hundreds of thousands of users on its platform and thousands of sellers. 

Founder(s)

Grant LaFontaine: Co-founder and CEO. Prior to Whatnot, Grant worked as a Product Manager AR/VR at Facebook. He also co-founded Kit.com.

Logan Head: Co-founder and CTO. Prior to Whatnot, he worked as Senior Product Manager at GOAT and Director of Engineering at Flight Club.

History and Evolution

2019: In December, Grant LaFontaine and Logan Head cofounded Whatnot which initially served as a simple marketplace for the buying and selling of sneakers. Later, the company added buying and reselling Funko Pops to its catalog.

2020: By February, the company was fully focused on verifying the authenticity of Funko Pops as they blew up on its platform, using human experts as well as a database of red flags to weed out fake products. The company also shared its plans to expand into Pokemon Cards as a category. When the pandemic struck, the company changed gears and also began focusing on live shopping, banking on the newly imposed quarantines keeping people homebound. At this point in time, live stream shopping had become widely popular in China and was also becoming a rapid sensation within the US, with a large chunk of the live streams being hosted on Instagram. As Instagram was not wired to handle bidding or payments after sales, Whatnot swooped upon the gap in the market and began building out their live shopping platform. 

2021: In January, the company introduced sports cards which rapidly sold on the platform and eventually became the largest, best-selling category for the company. By March, co-founder Grant shared that “95%” of the team’s focus is on the live stream side of things.” In September, the company earned a unicorn status, after being valued at $1.5B post a fundraising round of $150M. During this time it was also working on its pre-bidding feature, which would allow interested buyers to bid on an item before the actual live stream happened. It was also working on completely revamping both its iOS and Android apps, to make the UI more efficient for both buyers and sellers.

2022: In January, Whatnot introduced NFTs to its platform formally. In February, the company acquired Pastel Labs, a move that would help it scale the seller side of its platform. In March the company shared its plans to double down on the investments it was making for NFTs on its platform. Currently, the company primarily focuses on the WAX blockchain, due to its user base of collectors.

Market Snapshot

• Livestream shopping, a concept rapidly gaining traction in the US, has already made a big market in China. A March 2021 source reveals the sizable market in China amounted to $150B at that point in time. It is expected to reach $423B by 2022.

• The small market in the US that caters to live commerce across all apps is expected to grow. It is projected that the live stream retail sector will grow to $11B by the end of 2021 and grow to $25B by 2023. 

• Several traditional companies, as well as startups, have been attempting to capitalize on this market in the US as of late, but few have been able to foster a live stream shopping community such as Whatnot has, or so legitimate sources reveal. Better yet, they are able to get users to stay engaged on the platform.

• According to SensorTower, Whatnot came out to be the most downloaded live commerce app in the US during the period between January and September 2021. It won against competitors like NTWRK and West Chester, who were winners of the same category in 2020. Moreover, Whatnot surpassed its own installations in 2021 from those in 2020 by 21 times. 

Suggested Next Reads

• Ebay 2.0? Whatnot’s $50M bid to take auction excitement to livestream video (Dot.la, May ‘21) 

• Whatnot Raises $150M Series C to Become the Premier Live Shopping Destination for Collectors and Enthusiasts of Nearly Any Category (PRNewswire, September ‘21)

• Whatnot Livestreams Its Way to Building a Successful Online Marketplace (LABusinessJournal, November ‘21)

• Whatnot: The Hobby Community That’s Doing it Live (Boardroom, April ‘22)

Company Reviews & Competitive Intel 

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Snapshot

Founded in 2020, Gorillas is an online grocery delivery service that promises to make deliveries of grocery and other everyday items within 10 minutes. The company achieves this via its wide network of dark-stores and an equally large network of riders which it hires on a permanent basis instead of a contractual one. Gorillas is one of the quickest German startups to have reached unicorn status.

Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Gorillas currently operates in 8 countries including Germany, France, the Netherlands, UK, and others. It has raised $1.3B in funding and was last valued at $3.1B. Notable investors for the company include DST Global, Tencent, Coatue, Greenoaks Capital, Atlantic Food Labs, Dragoneer Investment Group, and many more.

About Gorillas: Website, LinkedIn

Business Overview and Products

Gorillas is an online grocery service that operates a network of dark stores for stocking thousands of goods and delivering in under 10 minutes. The company’s aim is to enable consumers to shop for groceries on an adhoc basis instead of weekly bulk buying, which is the case when shopping from traditional retailers.  

As an on-demand food and grocery delivery service, customers can choose from a wide assortment of products such as groceries and alcohol on the Gorillas’ platform. Orders can be placed via Gorillas’ app or online registration to its website. The company charges a simple delivery fee for delivering the products at a customer's doorstep.

How It Works

The company has a website as well as Android and iOS apps that enable customers to register and subsequently place orders. Upon registering, the customer must supply location and payment details after which the product database becomes accessible and the location informs the customer of how long delivery will take.

Gorillas offers a wide range of products such as fruits and vegetables, beverages, organic products, cleaning supplies, baby and pet products, etc. Customers simply add their selection to their shopping cart and make a payment to complete the order. Once an order is placed, the company makes good on its promise to deliver in under 10 minutes through the numerous urban dark-stores it operates. These dark-stores are Gorillas' own network of warehouses where all product stock is stored and packaged for delivery.  Specialized warehouse personnel are responsible for collecting orders, packaging, and handing them over to delivery riders.

Gorillas sources and stores inventory in its own warehouse and is thus in a position to charge a profit on the products it stocks. This is beneficial for the company as Gorillas can track its inventory very well and keep real-time information on product availability. When businesses partner with retail stores, they often do not receive timely information about product unavailability leading to unfulfilled orders. Moreover, orders can be fulfilled much faster. 

The company does not simply hire delivery riders on a contract basis, but instead permanently hires them to ensure there is never a shortage of riders or issues with delivery. They are supplied with branded uniforms to stand out as well as electric bikes to complete their deliveries on time.

Business Model and Pricing

There are 2 ways in which Gorillas makes money: the profit on its product sales and delivery fees. The company earns a profit on product sales due to its efforts to source the product and store it in company-owned warehouses. This allows it to set its own product prices, and therefore any difference in the sales price and the costs of acquiring and storing the product becomes the profit that Gorilla earns. Secondly, an average delivery fee of $2 is charged for all deliveries. No service fees are charged by the company.

Traction

By October 2021, Gorillas was operating in 55+ cities including its international footprint in Amsterdam, London, Paris, Madrid, New York, Milan and Munich. It was operating 180+ warehouses over the span of its 9 international markets. The company reported that its couriers had delivered 4.5M+ orders in the last 6 months.

In March 2021, Gorillas reached unicorn status. Within a year of operations, it had reached a revenue run rate of $300M+, with continued double-digit growth in monthly revenue. The company aimed to grow its revenue to $2.6B by the end of the year 2021. By August 2021, the company had a workforce of 10,000+ employees. 

Founder(s)

Kağan Sümer: Co-founder and CEO. He has previously founded other startups such as Rocket Internet Venture, Kuru. he has also worked as a consultant at Bain.

Jörg Kattner: Co-founder. He has previously worked as Head of Operations and later Chief Operating Officer at HelloFresh.

Ronny Shibley: Co-founder and CTO. He previously co-founded noknok and Shelvz. He also co-founded and served as CEO at Eddress. He was CTO and co-founder at Codefish. 

Ugur Samut: Co-founder and Chairman of the Board. Previously he co-founded Medigo GmbH and has served as board member of Meditopia and BEAT81.

History and Evolution

Gorillas was founded in May 2020 by a team of serial entrepreneurs. Originally named GetGoodies, founders Sümer and Kattner ran a test phase where Sümer bought and stored supermarket items from nearby stores at his flat. The test app was only available in his immediate neighborhood, and every time an order came through he personally delivered it. After a successful phase, the business was launched in Prenzlauer Berg in the heart of Berlin.

In its infancy the business made a name for itself through distinct outfits for riders, super-fast deliveries, and late-night availability, winning out against the local kiosks. When it secured its first institutional funding in August 2020, the company expanded its delivery and warehouse footprint across Germany. Its first series A round then enabled the company to expand to every major German city and take its first step into the foreign market through Amsterdam.

In October 2020, several unhappy workers, mostly including riders, came together to protest against some bad labor practices at the company. The workers banded together and claimed they were not given enough protection during harsh weather and were mistreated when orders were delayed. Gradually they formed the Gorillas’ workers collective, which would help protect labor rights.

Soon after another funding round in March 2021 Gorillas entered the unicorn club, surpassing $1B in valuation. The company managed to reach the unicorn club within the first 10 months of operations and then increased its valuation threefold to $3.1B in the next 6 months.

*The website has remained unchanged since its inception.  

Additional Learnings

• Co-founder Jorg Kattner left the company after a year of operations and was replaced by Felix Chrobog. Expectations were that Felix would help the company scale its delivery services faster, however, Felix also left the company in less than a year of being with the company. It is reported that Gorillas’ aggressive growth strategy pushed by Kağan Sümer had become the reason for Jorg’s departure. 

• Gorillas has received criticism several times for its expansion coming at the expense of compromised customer service, treatment of employees, and warehouse workers. This has led to drivers and warehouse workers of the company getting together for unionization efforts. These strikes are backed by the Gorillas Workers’ Collective.

• Gorillas tried a merger attempt with one of its strongest competitors based in Germany, known as Flink. However initial discussions did not pan out due to disagreement over equity splits, leadership structures, etc. 

• The latest funding round which yielded $1B in funds was backed by one of Germany’s biggest food delivery startups, Delivery Hero, which invested $235 million in Gorillas in return for around 8% of the company.

Market Snapshot

• In 2018, it was predicted the German online grocery market would grow from $1.3B at a compound annual rate of 23.2% to $3.8B by 2023.

• In 2020 since the pandemic began, Europe has been a hotbed of activity for startups in the grocery delivery market. There are several leading players in the European market, including Berlin’s Flink, Istanbul’s Getir, Barcelona’s Glovo, and London’s Zapp, with many more looking to join. 

• In 2022, it has been recently predicted that the value of grocery sales in Europe would rise drastically. From 2021 to 2026, the e-commerce grocery sales will grow from €93.1B to €193.4B. A further breakdown revealed that online retail and discounters with limited products will be the sectors that will grow the most in the grocery retail industry. 

Suggested Next Reads

• Gorillas: The new WeWork? (Sifted, August ‘21)

• Europe Went Bananas for Gorillas. Then Its Workers Rose Up (Wired, November ‘21)

• Gorillas business model: How does Gorillas work & make money (Jungleworks, February ‘22)

Company Reviews & Competitive Intel

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Snapshot

Founded in 2019, Paris-headquartered Ankorstore is a wholesale marketplace that connects independent and local brands directly with retailers, thus removing the need for middlemen like agents and trade shows. The platform claims to be an alternative to Amazon and sells various stock that is not available on major e-commerce sites in a bid to support local businesses. 

Within 2 years of launch, Ankorstore was valued at $2B in January 2022 after raising $283M in a Series C funding round led by Tiger Global and BOND. The company reported that these funds will be used for their geographic expansion plan, starting with Italy and Spain.

The company serves over 200,000 independent retailers and 15,000 brands across 23 countries in Europe. The platform offers over 1M unique products to its consumers and is backed by marquee investors including Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, GFC, Alven, and Aglae.

On the Web: Website, Linkedin

Business Overview & Products

Ankorstore aims to power independent commerce by providing retailers direct access to unique brands while taking care of their shipping and payment needs. It offers 1M unique products in the following categories: home & living, grocery, kids, beauty, and fashion. In 2022, the company introduced 2 new categories, sports & wellbeing and pets to their current offerings. 

The startup operates across 23 countries in Europe and has offices in Paris, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Stockholm. It plans on opening offices in Italy and Spain in 2022.

How It Works

Ankorstore, a wholesale marketplace, connects brands and creators with registered retailers and shops. The company aims to promote local businesses and sell products that e-commerce giants like Amazon do not offer. 

Brands can create an account on the platform and upload their product catalogs. The registration form focuses on information like lead time, annual sales, brand and product description, along with links to social media accounts. After careful analysis, the marketplace then decides which brand to accept within 48 hours and through this process ensures that only new or local businesses are welcomed onboard. 

Once a brand is selected, it then proceeds to publish its product catalog on the platform, which includes high-quality photos and videos of its offerings along with clear and concise descriptions. It is also important to translate this description into different European languages so that it appeals to the international market as well. 

Brands can then connect with retailers from over 150,000 boutiques that too in their own language. Retailers benefit from a low minimum order quantity, which amounts to €100 ($108) per brand and also allows them to test products first before buying them in large quantities. Brands are paid upon delivery by Ankorstore, while retailers can pay up to 60 days after placing an order. 

The platform refunds brands all their shipping costs and provides retailers free shipping for orders worth at least €300 ($325). This is specifically great for brands as their margins increase by 8% on average, resulting in greater profits. Brands have 2 shipping options; they can either take advantage of the company’s partnership with UPS and choose the ‘Ship via Ankorstore - FREE’ option, or they can use their preferred carrier and get reimbursed for the costs they incur. The delivery time is within 48 hours but in case of delay, it never exceeds more than 10 days. 

Business Model & Pricing

Ankorstore has a B2B2C business model, where it connects retailers to independent sellers but does not own any inventory or warehouses. Instead, it only facilitates transactions between the 2 parties without any capital investment. 

The company earns revenue by charging brands a commission that differs from order to order. For instance, on every first order with a new retailer, the brand is charged a commission of 20%. Whereas, in the case of reorders from the same retailer, the charged commission is 10%. This commission includes the guarantee of payment on delivery, payment facilities for the reseller, and total or partial reimbursement of shipping costs by Ankorstore. The platform does not charge any additional fees. 

Upfront payments to brands are a certain percentage of the total order and are not paid with the company’s working capital, instead, they are arranged through a 3rd party. The company’s mission is to empower and support independent brands and retailers. For this purpose, Ankorstore offers free shipping to brands so that they don’t incur any loss on smaller orders. Moreover, financially sound retailers are also allowed to pay up to 60 days after ordering something from the platform.

Traction

Ankorstore claims to be the fastest-growing B2B marketplace and category leader in Europe. As of 2022, Ankorstore has 200,000 retailers and 15,000 brands onboard. This is a sharp increase from their previous figures in 2021, where the company had 50,000 retailers and 5,000 brands using the platform. Ankorstore has a team of 400 employees working in over 40 languages. The platform offers 1M unique products and prides itself on forming 2.5M connections between brands and retailers.

In 2021, more than 11,000 brands registered on the platform, increasing its sales volume by 950%. Certain categories on the platform are performing exceptionally well, which include non-perishable groceries, beauty products, and home items. During the same year, Ankorstore launched in the UK and witnessed a 3x hike in sales following the government’s orders to reopen stores.

According to co-founder Nicolas Cohen, the majority of the company’s revenue is generated from international markets, not its home market France. He also listed the UK, Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden as the startup’s growth markets. 

Founder(s)

Nicolas Cohen – Co-CEO and Co-Founder at Ankorstore. Nicolas, a Masters graduate, has previously served as an Investor at Electra, I MAKE, Wecasa.fr, and Gorgias. 

Mathieu Alengrin – Principal Engineer and Co-Founder at Ankorstore. Mathieu previously worked as Head of Engineering at Vestiaire Collective and as Lead Developer at Adael Wireless. 

Nicolas d’Audiffret – Co-Founder at Ankorstore. Nicolas, an IIM graduate, co-founded A Little Market and also served as an Investor and Board Member at Back Market. 

Pierre Louis Lacoste – Co-Founder at Ankorstore. Pierre worked at Etsy as their Country Manager and at Lole as their Vice President. He also served as Director of Operation at Jean-Vier. 

History & Evolution

• In 2012, the founders of Ankorstore launched ALittleMarket, a B2B marketplace for handcrafted goods in France. However, the company was soon acquired by Etsy. It was while working at Etsy, that the founders discussed the challenges that were faced by merchants when it came to selling their products to other businesses. These specifically involved small and local brands that wished to expand their B2B storefronts to large B2B wholesale businesses. And that is how Ankorstore was launched in 2019, with an aim to help small brands grow and reach global markets. 

• Since the founders had previously made the mistake of not expanding to other countries with their first company, this time around, they went international from day one by launching local offices in 5 countries at the same time. 

• While people were skeptical about Ankorstore launching in multiple countries during the pandemic, this decision proved to be fruitful for the company. For starters, since people were already used to working remotely, it made the whole process of hiring team members in different countries easier. This is majorly why the company was able to onboard 100 people, all of whom were located outside of France, that too in the first half of 2021 alone. Moreover, due to the pandemic, non-essential shops were being closed down, hence independent stores had to change their offerings accordingly so they could survive the lockdown. During this difficult time, Ankorstore stood by its retailers and helped them control their cash flow, manage their stock precisely, and be more responsive. This is why despite half of the company’s retailers closing down during lockdown, Ankorstore still managed to triple its activity across Europe during the first 4 months of 2021.  

• In 2020, the company launched Lift Days, a digital trade fair for retailers and brands where they could sell, buy, exchange ideas, and network without restrictions. The first edition was a huge hit. It witnessed participation from 10,000 stores and 600 brands, out of which each of them gained an average of 5 new customers and a sale occurred every 40 seconds. This success led to the company arranging this event bi-annually. In 2021, Ankorstore announced the 4th edition of Lift Days offering discounts from a minimum of 10% up to 60% on all products.

• This year the company became France’s 2nd unicorn of 2022 after raising $283M in a Series C funding round. Ankorstore’s future plans include introducing new categories like fresh food, adding more products to their 1M unique offerings, and working relentlessly on their tech developments so they can offer more features to users. 

From archive.org 

Additional Learnings

The idea behind Ankorstore’s name came from an “anchor store”, a dominant retail store that drives business to smaller retailers, usually in a shopping mall or strip mall setting. ‍The company wants to empower independent retailers to become local anchor stores in their communities that offer the right product, offer, and experience. 

Ankorstore’s direct competitor is Faire, a US-based online wholesale marketplace that commenced its European expansion in 2021. 

Even though the company is headquartered in Paris, it still considers English as its official business language since the beginning.

In 2021, Meritt Hummer, a partner at Bain Capital Ventures joined Ankorstore’s board of directors. This move came after the venture led a Series B funding round for the company. 

Market Snapshot

• The B2B e-commerce market in Europe is expected to grow over $1.8T by 2025. 

• Ecommerce sales in Europe were estimated at €621B ($673B) in 2019 and grew to €757B ($821B) in 2020. The majority of the online turnover is generated in Western Europe which makes up for almost 70% of total European online retail turnover. 

• According to data collected in 2014, clothing and footwear are the most popular product categories in the UK, Germany, France, the Benelux, the Nordics, Spain, Italy, and Poland. 

• Revenue in the e-commerce market is estimated to reach $828.30B in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.84%, amounting to a market volume of $1,222B by 2025. 

Suggested starting points to dive deeper

• Pierre-Louis Lacoste, co-founder of Ankorstore: “We want to reinvent the way wholesale is done” (Fashion United, September ‘21)

• Ankorstore: How Europe's anti-Amazon online marketplace is shaping the shopping of the future | Euronews (Euronews, January ‘22)

• Ankorstore Co-Founder & CEO Nicolas d'Audiffret On Going Global From The Get-Go | by Bain Capital Ventures (Medium, December ‘21)

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Snapshot

Founded in 2020, Wholee has quickly scaled up its zero-markup marketplace that connects consumers directly with over 100,000 manufacturers around the world. The platform offers high-quality products across a wide range of categories at comparatively low prices.

The company has remained relatively stealthy thus far with little known about the founders, employees, or its operations outside of a few limited press releases. However, despite this, the company’s app has been downloaded more than 6 million times as of March 2022 and has claimed over 100k members have been reported for its ‘Prime’ service.

The company announced its only public fundraise in December of 2021, a $69M round led by Qiming Venture Partners.

Business Overview & Products

Wholee offers a variety of products across categories such as Clothing & Apparel, Jewelry, Bags, Home & Living Products, Electronics, Beauty, Pets and more. The company services customers across the US, UK Canada, Australia, France, and Germany.

Wholee connects customers directly with manufacturers around the globe, allowing consumers to get quality products at wholesale prices. The platform offers attractive features like express delivery and 24/7 customer service.

Limited information is available about the company’s logistics operations (or lack thereof) but delivery times for orders range from 9-18 days in the US, to 6-14 days in the UK. Users receive compensation in case of delivery delay.

The platform offers a 360-degree actual product view feature which ensures that customers receive exactly what they see online. This saves both the customer and company from the hassle of returns and refunds. The company claims to carry out extensive quality control checks for every product before they are shipped to end customers.

Business Model & Pricing

Wholee offers a zero-markup pricing model where customers only pay for the production cost of products set by the manufacturer. The company offers a membership-service called Prime which allows members access to its full range of manufacturers, special offers, and priority packaging and delivery. Prime rates start from as little as £0.99 a month.

Wholee’s shipping fees differ from country to country. For instance, shipping fees in the United States are $2.99, whereas, in France, it’s 4.99€.

Traction

Wholee’s app was reported to have been downloaded over 6 million times globally in a press release by the company, with more than 250,000 installations in the first 2 months of 2022. The US was reported as the company’s fastest-growing market with sales growing by 40% in Q1 ‘22. However, the UK remained their largest market and sales grew by 30% in that time period.

Wholee Prime was reported to be close to reaching a milestone of 100,000 prime members in July 2021. The report claimed 49,000 members in the UK, 26,000 in the US, 5000 in Australia, 8000 in the EU, and 8000 in Canada.

Founder(s)

There is relatively little known about the founders of Wholee and they do not have a presence on social media. CBInsights cites an Aaron Walker as co-founder while Crunchbase names Alex Walker.

History & Evolution

Relatively little is known about the company outside of a few press releases that the company has shared.

• In 2020, Wholee Prime, a members only buy-direct shopping app was launched in the UK. 

• In 2021, after becoming a key retail player in the US, UK, and Australia, Wholee Prime announced its plan to expand its offerings to France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. 

Where to Learn More

• Ethical online retailer Wholee threatening Amazon, eBay and Wish dominance with 6 million downloads globally and targets for even greater growth (Yahoo Finance, March 2022)

• Wholee Prime, Sees Global Growth Surge With Downloads at 4 Million and Rising (Craft Business, July 2021)

Appendices – Company Intel

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Snapshot

Founded in 2018, All Day Kitchens is a food technology and logistics platform that aims to assist independent restaurants in expanding their business through the use of a network of satellite kitchens.

Based in San Francisco, the company has raised $120.3M in funding and is backed by renowned investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz.

About All Day Kitchens: Website, LinkedIn

Business Overview and Products

All Day Kitchens partners with independent restaurants and offers their menus through its network of satellite kitchens. This enables partner restaurants to reach their takeout and delivery customers with ease. This lowers expansion costs for the partner restaurants and allows them to offer their menu to a wider audience with minimal upfront investment. The company also offers expert culinary consulting services by leading chefs from well-known restaurants.

In a traditional ghost kitchen model, a company typically only prepares food for delivery. However, in the model incorporated by All Day Kitchens, partner restaurants can offer both delivery and pickup channels to their customers.

How It Works

The company focuses on small and independent restaurants when it is seeking partners. This is because such restaurants face the greatest need to shift to online systems, yet lack the technology and infrastructure to do so. 

The All Day Kitchens platform allows these partners to reach their customers via its satellite kitchens across different markets. The company also has a culinary team that helps partner restaurants customize their menus for delivery, kitchen staff that prepares the food, as well as a network of logistics. 

The company’s kitchens are situated in residential and business areas, ensuring their proximity to customers. When a new restaurant partners with the company, its food goes to all satellite kitchen locations, allowing these restaurants to access large geographies and delivery zones.

Customers are able to place orders from multiple restaurants operating out of each satellite kitchen location, on a single ticket for delivery and pickup. Restaurants send prepared food to All Day Kitchens locations, which then prepare the food for distribution. 

Business Model and Pricing

The company offers a variation on the traditional warehouse model. Instead of utilizing large warehouses in far-away industrial regions that may increase delivery times, All Day Kitchens uses a micro-fulfillment model to enable small local chains and restaurants to increase their market penetration, without having to invest in infrastructures themselves. The company has not revealed its pricing strategy.

Traction

In 2021 alone, the company doubled the number of satellite kitchens in its network. In May it was reported to have 10 kitchens throughout the Bay Area. By October, it had 15+ satellite kitchen locations operating across the Bay Area and Chicago, and the number of partner restaurants had grown 4x in the past 12 months. Its revenue was reported to have grown 18x during the past 18 months although exact amounts were not given.

Founder(s)

Ken Chong: Co-founder & CEO. Previously, Ken has worked as a program manager at Microsoft, and a product manager at Uber. He was also a product manager at Upthere.

Andro Radonich: Co-founder & Head of Culinary. Prior to All Day Kitchens, Andro was a former chef who founded Andro's Rostilj in 2011. He currently serves as CEO of the company, along with being the Head of Culinary at All Day Kitchens.

Matt Sawchuk: Co-founder. Previously he was Head of Operations at Instawork, and a group manager at Uber. Before his 5 year career in Uber, he was an Associate at Emerald Technology Ventures.

History and Evolution

Prior to this startup, founders Ken Chong and Matt Sawchuk worked at Uber Eats where they noticed that the supply side for online food ordering did not meet the demand side, which rose rapidly especially due to the pandemic. They noticed that restaurants could not keep up with the influx of demand, and identified that the source of the failure for most was at their kitchen level. 

In 2018, Ken and Matt came up with the idea of All Day Kitchens and left Uber to help small independent restaurants that were struggling with expanding their business. The company was originally founded as Virtual Kitchen Co, and the idea was to collaborate with these restaurants and expand access to their food across a city via satellite kitchens. 

The company formally launched in November 2019. It revealed its intentions to open a dozen kitchens in the Bay Area within the next 6 months. The company’s early partner restaurants included DOSA, Big Chef Tom’s Belly Burgers, and Poki Time.   

By February 2020, the company was operating 6 satellite kitchen locations in the Bay Area and announced it had plans to expand both nationally and in a potential scenario, internationally. 

In May 2021, the company rebranded itself to All Day Kitchens and after raising its latest funding round in October, it began focusing on R&D, expanding its team, and new market expansion. From its base in San Francisco, All Day Kitchens expanded to Chicago, where it quickly set up 4 kitchen locations and partnered with 6 restaurants. The company also announced its target to expand to Texas and Southern California after this funding round.

Currently, the company operates across the Bay Area and Chicago.

Additional Learnings

The company rebranded after receiving feedback from partner restaurants who expressed confusion at the company’s original name “Virtual Kitchen Co”. Another reason for the change was that the company wanted to adopt a name that would be more reflective of its future ambitions. In the words of founder Ken, “It’s also a reflection of kitchen lingo capturing the energy of a bustling kitchen and a colloquial term suggesting high availability.”

What differentiates All Day Kitchens from other ghost kitchen companies, is that it does not follow a simple warehousing model. It aims to go for an ultra-fast delivery capability, of under an hour or 30 minutes. This is possible by the micro-fulfillment infrastructure that the company is focusing on, which enables it to be fast, fresh, and convenient for customers. According to Ken Chong, its vertical approach has helped the company create a scalable user-friendly platform. Instead of operating large centralized warehouse kitchens, it operates a large network of smaller kitchens in neighborhoods close to customers.

Moreover, the company combines its team's knowledge about food markets with its data-driven model to figure out which markets to target next. The model determines what parts of a region are the most ideal for delivery and takeout volumes, and rather than simply going for warehouses in the middle of industrial areas, the company instead chooses to go for model-identified parts of town. 

Market Snapshot

• Food delivery and pick-up greatly increased in the wake of the pandemic. According to the NPD Group, carryout orders increased by 130% between March 2020 to March 2021. Delivery grew by 142% during the same period.  

• Moreover, prior to 2020 full service restaurants represented a 10% share of digital orders, but grew to 16% market share from March 2020 to March 2021. This was a 237%+ increase in digital orders during the period. During the same period, quick service digital orders grew 111%+ from their original market share of 84%.

• The most common means of digital ordering are restaurant apps and websites. They form 62% of all digital orders and experienced a 98% increase. Other digital order channels include 3rd-party apps like DoorDash and UberEats, which grew by 207%+ in the same period.

• There is excessive competition in the ghost kitchen category. Investors' confidence in the delivery and pickup business can be visibly observed through market movements. For example in 2020, C3 raised $80M to grow its online presence while Reef raised $700M and Kitopi raised $60M. Moreover, JustKitchen secured $20M and Local Kitchens raised $25M in June. 

Suggested Next Reads

• A New Virtual Kitchen Provider Emerges from Stealth Mode with $15 Million in Funding and Plans to Deliver (Restaurant Technology News, November ‘19)

• All Day Kitchens wants to expand every independent restaurant’s delivery network (TechCrunch, October ‘21)

• The kitchen is now open (Medium, October ‘21)

By Sarah Pariwush. These briefs are produced by leveraging publicly available data sources and information. If you notice a mistake or see an area for improvement, please let us know through this typeform.

Snapshot

Founded in 2018, Misfits Market is a D2C online grocer that buys leftover or surplus produce directly from farmers and sells it to consumers at a discounted cost. These are fruits and vegetables which normally cannot be sold in regular stores due to aesthetic issues. Aside from farm produce, the company also sources meats, seafood, and staple foods to sell at discounted prices, all of which are packaged and sold in the form of subscription boxes. Recently, the company has diversified into wine and dairy products.

With headquarters in Pennsauken, New Jersey, Misfits has raised $526.5M in funding and was last valued at $2B after its latest funding round of $225M held in September 2021. 

About Misfits Market: Website, LinkedIn

Business Overview and Products

Misfits Market operates as an online grocer, buying unwanted produce from farmers, producers, and suppliers across the US and selling at reduced prices to willing consumers. Other than organic produce, the company sources categories such as meats, seafood, staples, and other groceries. The food is affordable and high quality and the company gets to make a positive impact on the food waste cycle. In November 2021, the company forayed into dairy products like cheeses and butter while in February 2022, the company expanded into the wine category produced from sustainable farming.

Customers sign up for a subscription through which they receive grocery items weekly in a box according to their preferences. The company also brings in recyclable or compostable packaging for its products in its bid to be an eco-friendly company.

Unlike CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture, a model where consumers can buy portions of any farm’s harvest in advance), Misfits Market directly buys produce from the source, combines it with other healthy grocery options, and directly delivers to subscribers’ doors. 

How It Works

Misfits Market cultivates relationships with farmers, producers, and suppliers to obtain millions of pounds of food that is typically expected to be wasted. The company gets direct access to fresh grocery items at the source, and due to its ability to cut out the middleman, can offer these items at reduced prices.

The food options supplied by the company include pantry staples, fresh organic produce, as well as high-quality seafood and meat that may be available at more expensive rates from other grocers. The company gets its hands on any produce (fruits and vegetables) that doesn't meet the aesthetic criteria of a grocery store or is simply in surplus amounts. For staples, it works with food brands and buys off excess inventory from them, which is in surplus amounts or is short-dated (i.e., having “best-before” dates less than 6 weeks). Meat and seafood are also directly sourced from suppliers. In the case of wine, the company sources categories such as red, white, rosé, and sparkling. The focus is on sustainable farming methods, like less grape pruning and little use of water and pesticides.

Hundreds of items are offered on the company’s platform at up to 40% off grocery store rates. Every week, refrigerated trucks from Misfit Markets reach farmers and collect the food. This is brought to the company warehouse, and a new assortment of grocery items is added to the platform weekly. On a weekly basis, each subscriber can choose what grocery items they want in their subscription boxes.  

In the process, farmers and producers can prevent waste at the source while the business improves access to underserved communities to food. Instead of focusing on urban markets where delivery services are common, the company caters to suburban and rural markets. It delivers food to almost all zip codes in the states that it serves.

Business Model and Pricing

The company makes revenue by charging a weekly subscription fee based on box sizes (small and large). For example, in November 2021 the price for two of its base boxes were $22 and $35. Any additional items that the customer wants to add have an additional cost. Wine comes in curated bundles of three and six bottles, at prices of $35.99+ and $92.99+ respectively.

Every week, subscribers get a 3-day shopping window where they can log in to their account and build the order they want for the week. The minimum order size is $30. Once the shopping window ends, the customer is automatically charged for the order they have built if it exceeds $30. The order is then home-delivered in 2-3 days for a flat shipping fee of $6.99.

According to the company’s claims, it offers price reductions of up to 40% off grocery store rates, and customers get to save an average of $21.49 each week. For example, meat and seafood are offered by the company at roughly 20%-40% lower prices than at traditional grocery stores.

Traction

Since its launch in 2018, the company has crossed the Billion threshold in annual revenues. From 2019 to 2020, it experienced 5x year-on-year growth in its active customer base and order volume. In 2020 alone, the company shipped about 77M pounds of food to 400,000+ homes across the US. 

By April 2021, it had already rescued the same amount of food it had rescued and shipped in 2020 and was serving 400,000 customers per month spanning over 37 states in the US. At this point in time, the company was offering almost 0.5M square feet of refrigerated space across the US. 

In May 2021, the expected sales for 2021 were released to be $350M. In September 2021, the company revealed its average order size had more than doubled to $52, since its launch. By the end of 2021, Misfits Market doubled its SKU count to 500 and aims to double it again in the next 6 months. It also expanded to California, delivering to nearly 40M residents across the nation and catering to 44 states in total.

By November 2021, the company had saved a total of 225M pounds of food, 70% of which became additional revenue for farmers and producers who had no other avenues to make money from.

Founder(s)

Abhi Ramesh: Founder and CEO. Prior to Misfits Market, Abhi has co-founded Horizons School of Technology and StoreTok. He has also worked as an investment analyst at Apollo Global Management.

History and Evolution

Misfits Market was built on the foundation of being an eco-friendly company that could help reduce the food waste cycle. According to the website, almost 1/3rd of whatever is grown in the US is rejected and never harvested because of not meeting superficial standards set by traditional grocery stores. For this reason, upon its launch in 2018, the company was hyper-focused on rejected produce which would be a ‘misfit’ for traditional grocers.

Through the years, the company has now expanded its assortment to include regular grocery store items such as cooking supplies, staples, and different meats. Having started off by partnering with farmers, the company now partners with a variety of food makers that are looking for a solution to their surplus stock.   

Up until September 2020, Misfits Market followed a mystery box model where customers would receive an assortment of surprise foods. But upon noticing that many customers were simply discarding the surprise food items they didn't like, the company discontinued this model on the basis that it was still contributing to food wastage rather than solving it. It changed the model to one where customers could choose their own selection of food items from the company’s virtual food aisles.

By April 2021, the company was already operating two warehouses where it stocked and packaged all the food it sourced, and was aiming to launch a 3rd warehouse.

With its latest funding round in September 2021, the company doubled its valuation overnight from $1.1B to $2B and announced its plans to expand its distribution network to 5 more states, essentially covering the entire continental US.

In November 2021, Misfits Market forayed into the dairy category, including 25 different kinds of cheeses and butter, with both organic and plant-based options. In upcoming months, the company would include milk, yogurt and eggs in the mix.

In February 2022, Misfits Market expanded into the wine category, offering selections with an emphasis on sustainable farming methods. It also focuses on lesser known wine producing regions such as Sicily and South Africa. The company may later expand to other alcoholic beverages like beer and cider. Upcoming category expansion also includes frozen and prepared foods, and staples in the form of canned items. 

3 key elements of the model used by Misfits Market typically resonate with customers: sustainability, convenience of ecommerce and availability of high quality products at low prices. With increasing awareness of the environment around the world, such models generally appeal to people looking to reduce their carbon footprint and waste. It also appeals for the reason that it combines lower price point of products with sustainable ecommerce. One other thing that stands out about the approach taken by Misfits Market is that it not only focuses on the well-being of end customers, but also makes things easier for food suppliers by providing them a very viable solution.

Additional Learnings

• The company opts for unique, eco-friendly packaging depending on whether it's available in the market. This includes packaging options like compostable clamshells, ice packs, protective dividers, and various forms of insulation inside a customer’s recyclable box.

• The $225M funding it raised in September 2021 is to be used to fund Misfits Markets hyper-focused nationwide expansion and increase the assortment of grocery items it can offer to its customers.

• Food deserts in America are areas where residents have limited access to affordable and healthy food options. Nearly 20M Americans reside in these regions, and Misfits Markets has shared its active goals to eradicate food deserts in America by 2025.

• The company optimizes its distribution centers through in-house technology that enables delivery of large volumes of food shipments to 3rd party logistics providers. This ensures timely deliveries.

• In November 2021, the company announced that for every order placed in California during November, it would donate money equivalent to one meal at food banks in California that are members of Feeding America.  

Market Snapshot

• In 2018, a study by BCG revealed that annually 1.6B tonnes of food worth$1.2T are wasted. This is 1/3rd of the total amount of food produced around the world. It is estimated that food waste will increase in the next 10 years to 2.1B tonnes by 2030, worth 1.5T.

• Just as eCommerce businesses have largely witnessed growth during the pandemic, online grocery sales in the US rose to $8.6B in August 2021. This was a 4.7% increase from last year. 

• Furthermore, in a survey in August 2021, it was revealed that retail contributes 43B pounds of food waste every year. The same survey also found that typically, 60% of consumers are concerned about food waste and would buy from a retailer who works on reducing food waste. Once a consumer knows of such efforts, 63% of them feel obligated to shop there while 52% would simply shop there more frequently.

Suggested Next Reads

• Everything You Need to Know About The Marketplace (Misfits Market Blog, November ‘19)

• How Abhi Ramesh built a $1 billion start-up called Misfits Market (CNBC, May ‘21)

• Misfits Market Delivers a Better and More Affordable Grocery Delivery Experience to California (Businesswire, November ‘21)

• Misfits Market launching in California, expects to add hundreds of jobs in Philadelphia area (The Business Journals, November ‘21)

Company Reviews & Competitive Intel

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Snapshot

Founded in 2018, Facily is the first social commerce platform in Latin America. It is on a mission to provide everyday goods to the low-income population in Brazil at affordable prices. The company leverages a community group buying model and combines it with the convenience of online shopping, catering to millions of Brazilian families. 

The company is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, and currently operates in 9 more states. It has raised $502.4M in funds, and reached the unicorn club after its latest funding round of $135M brought it to a valuation of $1.1B. 

Business Overview and Products

As a social commerce platform, Facily seeks to provide access to high-quality goods to low-income populations at affordable prices. It offers fresh fruits and produce at 40% of the cost at supermarkets. The goods it supplies overall consist of food, beverages and other products at wholesale prices. It encourages group shopping to ensure consumers get the best prices on a vast category of products. Whatsapp plays a key role in the business.

The company is enabling convenient online shopping through the multiple pickup points it provides across the cities it operates in, and also through the variety of payment options on its platform. These include cash payments and bank transfers.

How It Works

The company provides a marketplace for buyers to purchase everyday items at low prices. It connects SMEs to larger audiences and aims to ensure producers get paid more, while buyers have to pay less through its platform. It offers a gamified app, which enables consumers to access the best prices via group purchases. 

Facily works directly with suppliers and manufacturers which allows it to maintain low prices. Most of its customer base belongs to the low-income segment and are first-time e-commerce users. Shopping is done through the use of Whatsapp. 

Through Facily’s app, interested buyers can make group purchases and obtain discounts through Whatsapp groups. Customers can create new groups or join existing ones, and share purchase links with their friends and family members. The app also has built in games to increase user engagement and popularity of the platform.

Once an order is placed, it is delivered to a nearby pick-up point for collection by the customer. Facily owns a vast distribution network which uniquely consists of pickup points for collection by customer. These collection points make delivery cost zero for customer, lowering logistics costs for Facily. 

Moreover, the company makes several payment options available to customers and they are not required to use credit cards. This includes paying through cash, through PIX (a central bank platform for digital payments), or through Boletos (a voucher-based payment system).   

Business Model and Pricing

The company uses an asset-light community-group-buying model, along with its logistics network and technology to conduct its operations. The company does not charge a shipping fee to its consumers.

Facily uses technology to disrupt supply chains and in the process, eliminates the role of middle agents. The difference in prices offered by Facily can therefore be drastic, for example, a banana which costs BRL 8.40 ($1.79) in a traditional supermarket, will be available in the app for BRL 1.99 ($0.42) with no delivery fee.

The company has a network or pickup points, which primarily comprise of small businesses. These small businesses earn 5% of the price of every item that they deliver to customers, which amounts to BRL 1 ($0.21) per item at max. In larger order volumes, this becomes a significant amount. Facily itself charges a commission of 15% per sale on average from these sellers. 

Traction

In a period of rising inflation in Brazil, the company’s model has resonated well with the Brazilian population. From September 2019 to February 2020, the company reported a 20% growth in users per week.

Moreover, Facily raised multiple funding rounds in 2021 alone, and experienced a 43x growth in sales volume from January to September 2021, a span of 9 months. 

The no.of orders delivered by Facily grew by 46 times in 2021, and in October 2021, the company made 7M+ product deliveries. By November, its distribution network had grown to 11,000+ pickup points.  

By December 2021, the company’s app had 17.5M downloads and around 10M active users, and it was among the fastest growing shopping apps around the world. Its pickup points numbered at 12000+.

Facily’s app is now among the top 3 most downloaded apps in Brazil. It is also among the fastest growing apps in the country, and among the fastest-growing e-commerce food apps around the world. The company has withheld information about its revenue numbers.

Founder(s)

Diego Dzodan: Co-founder and CEO at Facily. Previously, he has served as Vice-President for Facebook Latin America for more than 3 years, and was also co-founder and CEO of Certant.

Luciano Freitas: Co-founder and ex-CMO at Facily. Prior to Facily, he co-founded Nuveo and worked as a marketing manager at Uber. Currently he is CMO at Bxblue.

Vitor Zaninotto: Co-founder and IT Director at Facily. Previously, he has worked as an SAP consultant at Infosys and ESS Brazil.

History and Evolution

Facily was founded in 2018 with a sharp focus on the low-income population of Brazil and Latin America in General. When Founder Diego Dzodan traveled to China, he witnessed impressive social e-commerce models in place. Soon after, the company was directly inspired from the Chinese Pinduoduo, a platform that connects farmers and consumers in China. 

Once the company took off, it focused on bringing onboard talented teams and hired on key roles such as Head of Strategy, who helped the company scale rapidly. The group purchase model worked well in Brazil due to the innate connectedness and shared goodwill of the Brazilian community. They did not hesitate to share good offers in their social circles.  

The company experienced a sharp growth during the coronavirus pandemic (refer to “Traction” section). In 2020, it launched a full scale internship program.  

In November 2021, the company achieved a $850M valuation and within a month, following another funding round, reached a $1.1B valuation. This funding round of $135M will allow the company to focus more on expanding its technology and logistics going forward. 

In March 2022, the company announced its plans to enter the financial services industry. It revealed that payment processing may be the starting point, but the portfolio will later be expanded to include access to the typical services provided by large banks and insurance companies. The company may consider integrating 3rd-party solutions with its platform.

Currently Facily operates in Brazilian cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Goiania, Brasilia, Recife, Porto Alegre and Salvador. The company has shared plans to expand to 7 more cities in 2022, along with launching pilot projects in Colombia and Mexico.

According to the founder, the company is still in the initial stages of overcoming traditional e-commerce barriers and tapping the vast market. Even so, it has managed to disrupt existing supply chains with its social commerce approach. It is backed by leading investors in Latin America and outside of it, which has undoubtedly enabled it to scale rapidly in a short period of time. Moreover, the company praises its asset-light model and extensive logistics for contributing massively to its success. 

Additional Learnings

• Most Brazil and Latin America in general consists of unbanked or underbanked populations. So when Facily introduced its online payments options without the use of credit or debit cards, it enabled convenient online purchasing for many people who did not previously have access to this avenue. Facily became a pioneer in enabling online shopping  for these people.  

• Facily had been receiving excessive complaints (about 150,000) about its app via customer feedback throughout 2021. In November 2021, Facily signed a deal with Procon-SP, a consumer protection agency, to solve customer complaints regarding problems that included delays in product delivery and issues with refunds. Moreover, a BRL 250M fund was created to improve its app customer experience and logistics.

• Pickup points, which are made of small businesses, mostly benefit from cross-selling. For example, one convenience store that serves as a pickup point for Facily is next to a bus stop, and benefits from cross-selling because customers who use it as a pickup point also end up buying other items from the store.

Market Snapshot

• In 2020, owing to the pandemic, small e-commerce retailers in America experienced a 110% increase on average in online sales. It is projected that American spending on e-commerce will grow to $1T online in 2022.

• However, in the same span, e-commerce penetration remained low in several emerging markets. In the case of Latin America, the retail market in 2021 has been valued at $2T, yet e-commerce penetration remains at 3%. 

• Latin America has vast untapped potential for e-commerce, with online sales growing 63% in 2020 to $106.6B.

• The Brazilian population is an avid user of mobile phones. 71% of Brazilians use mobile phones to access the Internet, and 120M+ use WhatsApp.

• According to a source in December 2021, roughly 85% of the Brazilian population is considered low-income and spends about 65% of their family income on food on average.

Suggested Next Reads

• Behind the Term Sheet: Meet Facily, the Brazilian Startup that’s been Quietly Democratizing E-Commerce in Latin America (Medium, November ‘21)

• Building an Internship Program at Your Startup: An Interview with Facily’s Diego Dzodan (HBS, November ‘21)

• Brazil's answer to Pinduoduo, Facily raises $135 million Series D extension led by Goodwater and Prosus (Labsnews, December ‘21)

• Brazilian e-commerce unicorn Facily prepares to enter financial services (startups, March ‘22)

Company Reviews & Competitive Intel 

These briefs are produced by leveraging publicly available data sources and information. If you notice a mistake or see an area for improvement, please let us know through this typeform.

Snapshot

• Founded in 2015, CityMall is a social eCommerce platform in India that focuses on delivering more than 3,000 lifestyle, grocery, and curated products to customers through a network of community resellers belonging to smaller cities and villages in India.

• These resellers, known as ‘community leaders’, can set up virtual stores on WhatsApp and sell products to their close networks through peer-to-peer referrals. The company’s aim is to build a decentralized eCommerce ecosystem for the next 200-300M internet users living in the rural areas of India.

• CityMall has managed to raise over $112M funds in a span of 4 years. The company’s last funding round was in March 2022, where it raised $75M in a Series C round led by Norwest Venture Partners, bringing its valuation to $320M. 

Business Overview & Products

CityMall works by empowering individuals in Tier 2, 3, and 4 cities of India to become micro-entrepreneurs by enabling them with the infrastructure to re-sell products from manufacturers. These individuals are known as community leaders on the platform.

CityMall provides income opportunities to community leaders by allowing them to create virtual stores on WhatsApp, where they can sell products and groceries to their local network. 

Community leaders are provided with products across a few key categories including Grocery, Fresh and Packaged FMCG, Electronics, Fashion, and Cosmetics amongst others.

How It Works

Once an order is placed, CityMall ships the products to community leaders who then deliver the items to end consumers. At times, the customer collects them from the leaders instead. This process has proven to be cost-efficient for the company, as it saves on delivery and logistic costs. CityMall has slowly started building out its own logistics network to get products from manufacturers to community leaders.

In order to keep sellers motivated, gamification has been added to the app so that leaders are constantly on a quest to bring more users on board. This essentially means that depending on the number of customers they have acquired and the number of sales they have made, sellers are promoted to different levels. For instance, upon reaching level 4, the community leader is promoted to Silver Director. 

Consumers can either place orders through WhatsApp or the CityMall app. Most customers prefer using the app due to a combination of super cataloging as well as the availability of new deals and discounts every day. If these incentives aren’t enticing enough, the app also has interesting features like a daily horoscope, which prompts users to open the app every single day. 

CityMall is paid directly by community leaders, who then collect payments from end customers. Some community leaders will give credit to their trusted customers out of their own pockets. 

Business Model & Pricing

CityMall has 2 revenue streams, which include earning money through commissions from sales and also charging resellers for displaying ads on their platform in a bid to boost their visibility. Brands on the platform are hyperlocal and tailor their prices to cater to the price-sensitive rural population. Resellers earn a 4-6% commission as soon as they deliver their orders. In Jan 2022 this was estimated to be about 40% of household income for resellers.

Traction

In 2021, CityMall reported operating revenue of INR 14.95 crore ($1M), which according to reports was a 25x growth from its revenue in 2019. In the same period, it incurred losses of INR 10.4 crore ($1M) as well. According to company claims, this was the first time it had generated income since operations began.

As of March 2021, CityMall had managed to create a network of 20,000 community leaders that cater to over 200,000 customers in 8 small cities and towns in India. The company plans to expand to 75 districts in the next 18 months. In January 2022 Co-Founder Angad revealed that the CityMall platform was growing 35% month on month.

Founder(s) & Team

Naisheel Verdhan – Co-Founder at CityMall. Naisheel, an IIT graduate previously founded Codalyze Technologies and EdRoot Analytics where he served as the Chief Technology Officer. 

Angad Kikla – Co-Founder at CityMall. Angad, an IIM graduate previously co-founded BeatRoute Innovations and HAWKR. He also worked as a Consultant at Accenture. 

History & Evolution

• In early 2019, CityMall was co-founded by Angad Kikla, Naisheel Verdhan, and Divij Goyal with an aim to create a chain of virtual stores on WhatsApp for the next 300 million internet users in India through a network of neighborhood community leaders. Through their platform, the founders wanted to solve two major problems prevailing in the retail industry, customer acquisition, and logistics. Soon after its inception, Divij Goyal left the company in February according to his Linkedin profile.

• Initially, the idea was to sell low volumes of long-tail (i.e., hard-to-find) products on WhatsApp. For instance, the company sold hair curlers imported from China that were comparatively cheaper than Indian hair curlers. However, soon the duo realized that everyday convenience items like a packet of Maggi Noodles were easier to sell and had a higher demand as well. That’s when they transitioned to selling groceries and converted their group buying customers into community leaders who would now earn their income through commissions. 

• Within a few months of launch, CityMall grew from 50 orders a day to 750, while growing 50% every week.

• Towards the end of 2021, the company announced its plan to foray into the fresh groceries delivery market. This is CityMall’s 2nd attempt to enter this space, as it had previously struggled with supply chain issues despite attracting demand the first time around. 

From archive.org 

Additional Learnings

CityMall’s competitive edge is its strategy to target mid-level sub-urban and rural communities in their local languages. Usually big retail players don’t tailor their services to cater to such markets and that’s what makes CityMall different.

The company has launched an open forum called Parivaar on their app, where community leaders can ask, tell, share and discuss information with like-minded individuals. With this initiative, the team hopes to empower leaders to share their insights and feedback. 

Market Snapshot

• India’s social commerce market was valued at $800M in 2021 with Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Trell, and Chingari dominating the industry. Moreover, 55% of the market’s customer base belongs to tier II and III towns which contribute nearly 80% of the gross merchandise value.

• According to a report by consulting firm Accenture, India has the fastest growing social commerce market and is expected to grow to $17B in gross merchandise value at a CAGR of 59% by 2025. 

Suggested Next Reads

• Forbes India - CityMall Wants To Change How Small-town India Buys Groceries (Forbes India, March ‘21)

• Buoyed by strong growth, community-buying platform CityMall looks at expansion - The Hindu BusinessLine (The Hindu Business Line, November ‘21)

• How CityMall, an Indian Social Commerce Startup, Succeeded - Success Story (Sugermint, March ‘22)

Company Reviews & Competitive Intel 

These briefs are produced by leveraging publicly available data sources and information. If you notice a mistake or see an area for improvement, please let us know through this typeform.

Snapshot

• Founded in 2018 and headquartered in London, Cazoo is an online car retailer that makes it convenient to buy used cars online. Customers can have their selection delivered to their doorstep in as little as 72 hours, with a 7-day money-back guarantee.

• Currently, the company operates in 5 large markets across Europe, including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

• Cazoo has raised $2B in total funds in just over 3 years. The company went public via a SPAC in Aug 2021 at a valuation of $8B although it is since down to a market cap of ~$2.1B.

Business Overview and Products

Modeled on the likes of Beepi or Vroom in the US, Cazoo has developed an efficient app-based method to buy used cars online. The online platform allows customers to simply browse and select from their vast catalog of used cars and get access to financing.

Cazoo also offers a subscription service that allows consumers to lease cars. Recently it expanded ancillary services via service plans and added the option of buying used cars directly from other consumers.

How It Works

Originally, Cazoo bought and owned every used car that it sold online. These cars are reconditioned and then offered for sale on its online portal. Interested buyers can view 360-degree quality images of the car on its portal and access details of features and history of each vehicle. They may sample the car by using it for up to 7 days and can return it for free in case of dissatisfaction.

The company enables customers to have the entire transaction process online, with the option to get instant financing or offers for any part exchange. Once an order is placed, the car is home-delivered to the buyer in a 2-hour delivery slot within a few days. Buyers also get a 90-day warranty and roadside assistance upon making the purchase. In France and Germany, every Cazoo car has a full 7-day money-back guarantee and a 12-month warranty.

Business Model and Pricing

Cazoo uses a fully-integrated digital business model. The entire car-buying process is online and prices are fixed, which leaves no room for haggling. Most cars listed on the website are a maximum of 6 years old and prices start from £4,200. Upon selection, the car is delivered without delivery charges within 72 hours. In FY‘21, the company made a Retail Gross Profit per Unit in the UK of £450 ($620), up from £229 ($315) in FY’20.

While Cazoo does not charge buyers for any consumer credit services, if the buyer and lender do get into a financing agreement, Cazoo receives a payment or benefit from the lender for facilitating the process. This compensation varies according to the lender and the product type and is based on a fixed fee or percentage of the amount borrowed by the buyer. The compensation does not impact the rates offered to the buyer.

Traction

In FY2020, Cazoo earned $221M in revenues while suffering a loss of $135M in the same span. 

In FY2021, the company sold over 49,500 total cars which was a 230% Y-o-Y growth. Group revenues experienced a 300% Y-o-Y growth, rising to £665M ($916M). Retail Gross Profit per Unit in the UK rose from £229 ($315) to £450 ($620). By the end of 2021, Cazoo had sold 45,000+ cars since its launch in the UK less than 2 years ago, while its team grew to 3,800+ across UK, France, Germany, Spain & Portugal.

Throughout 2021, Cazoo has made significant strides in its operations. The company grew its reconditioning capabilities by taking it fully in-house in the UK. In February 2021, it was operating out of just 1 reconditioning site, but during the year Cazoo grew to 11 reconditioning sites with an output capacity of 250,000 units/year. The team at Cazoo grew to 4,000+ employees as well

As of February 2022, Cazoo is a leader in consumer car subscriptions in the European market and has around 10,000 active subscribers. It plans on selling over 100,000 retail units in 2022, with a goal to earn up to £2B ($2.7B) in revenues through a Y-o-Y growth of 200%. 

Founder(s) & Team

Alex Chesterman: Founder and CEO. Prior to Cazoo, he founded numerous internet ventures including Zoopla (which went public and was then acquired for £2.2B). 

History and Evolution

Cazoo was founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur Alex Chesterman. In the very first 3 months of commercial operations, Cazoo logged £20M ($25.6M) in sales and reached a valuation of about $220M by September 2019. In March 2020, when the first wave of coronavirus was spreading, Cazoo managed to raise $116M in funding which was used to expand its business. At a time when businesses and in-person sales were slowing down, this round signaled investor trust in the business model of Cazoo.

In June 2020, Cazoo reached unicorn status with a valuation of over $1B, and became one of the fastest-growing British businesses to enter the unicorn club. Nearly 3 months later, by October 2020, Cazoo doubled its valuation to over $2.5B after an all-equity round.

In August 2021, Cazoo completed a reverse merger with a SPAC raising $1B in the process. This brought the company to a valuation of $8B and enabled Cazoo to launch its services in France and Germany as well as expand its car-subscription business.

Cazoo kicked 2022 off with the acquisition of Italian brand Brumbrum, a used vehicle marketplace that had raised over $177M. Following this in February, Cazoo raised $630M to support its expansion across the UK and Europe. Combined with the company’s strong liquidity position, this amount will help Cazoo execute its multi-year strategy and expedite its European expansion.

Additional Learnings

• Founder Alex Chesterman has previously founded other popular startups, such as LoveFilm and Zoopla. He owned a 23.4% stake in Cazoo when it went public.

• In June 2020, Cazoo announced it would be the new shirt sponsor of Everton, the Premier League Football club.

Market Snapshot

• In 2020, a source stated there were 8M used car transactions across the UK per year.

• In 2021, Europe was stated to have a car market of $690B for used cars.

• Cazoo achieved a valuation of $8B in 2021, while British competitors like Pendragon had a stock market value of $366M and Lookers had a market capitalization of $357M. This is after both Pendragon and Lookers sold around 40K cars in 2020 alone, which would be double the size of Cazoo’s sales.  

• In a February 2022 source, the combined car market of the UK and EU has been revealed to be £475B+ ($644.9B).  It has a very low digital penetration and lags behind other retail sectors. The total addressable market in the 5 regions Cazoo operates in (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain) is £300B+ or $407B.

Suggested Next Reads

• Cazoo review UK: is this the cheapest way to buy a used car? (LoveMoney, August ‘21)

• How does Cazoo work? (ncrypted, November ‘21)

• Cazoo Raises $630 Million From Investor Group Led by Viking Global Investors to Support Continued Growth and Expansion in the UK and EU (Cazoo Investor Relations, February ‘22)

Company Reviews & Competitive Intel 

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Snapshot

• Founded in 2016, Bangalore headquartered Udaan is a B2B marketplace connecting manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and traders.

• The company provides a range of solutions across technology, logistics, and financial services to facilitate transactions.

• Udaan is currently one of India’s largest B2B platforms, catering to diverse categories consisting of pharmaceuticals, electronics, lifestyle, and many other general categories.

• The company has raised $1.5B in multiple funding rounds. The company’s last disclosed valuation was $3.1B when it raised a Series D in Jan 2021. It has subsequently raised further funding at undisclosed valuations.

Business Overview and Products

Udaan’s core offering is its B2B marketplace, which is a one-stop solution for conducting transactions. The platform provides access to all members of a supply chain, from manufacturers to end-user retailers, to transact across an expansive range of high-quality, competitively-priced products. The company boasts over 500,000 products across a range of verticals such as electronics, FMCG, pharmaceuticals, and more.

Udaan also provides a slew of other services such as a product delivery service called udaanExpress, and udaanCapital, which provides trade financing to users of Udaan’s B2B platform. Through the use of finance, technology, and logistics, the company aims to mainly empower smaller traders to compete with larger corporates in the retail world.

How It Works

Retailers on Udaan’s platform can browse through various categories of products and place orders for their desired needs. The seller – generally a manufacturer or wholesaler – books the order, packs it, and gets it ready for delivery. Udaan’s logistics team then assists the seller with the pick-up and delivery of the shipment. Once the shipment is delivered to the retailer, payment is collected and settled into the seller's account on Udaan.

By directly connecting manufacturers with retailers, Udaan allows business buyers to bypass intermediaries and get products more affordably. The company operates over 200 warehouses totaling 10 million square feet to facilitate logistics.

Udaan’s users can connect with other parties via its online platform or a mobile application. Udaan also currently owns an NBFC (non-banking financial company) license to provide financing in the form of loans to small retailers, which saves them from the high-interest rates charged by local lenders.

Business Model and Pricing

Udaan earns revenue through several streams. The company charges a commission on all transactions which is been reported to be in the range of 15-18%. The company also generates revenue through several additional streams including:

• Warehousing & Logistics services

• Advertising products from sellers that want better placement on its platform

• Interest income on the loans that are extended

• Other value-add services such as packaging and printing product labels or printing invoices.

Traction

As of March 2022, Udaan claimed to have over 1.7M retailers and over 25K sellers across 900+ cities in India. The company reported doing over 4.5M transactions each month. The company boasts a repeat purchase rate of over 94%.

In an article by Business Mavericks, Udaan’s revenue was reported to have increased from $6.69M in 2019 to $129.2M in 2020. This was a 21x surge within a year. Udaan’s revenue again increased by 6 times from $129.2M in 2020 to $808.7M in 2021.

Udaan’s annualized GMV was reported to be over $4B in July 2021, up from $3B in 2020. At the time Udaan was reported to have disbursed over $1B in loans, and over 200,000 businesses had utilized this credit.

Founder(s) & Team

Vaibhav Gupta: Co-founder and CEO at Udaan. Before setting up Udaan, Vaibhav worked with his co-founders at Flipkart as SVP of Finance and Analytics.

Amod Malviya: Co-founder and engineer at Udaan. Prior to Udaan, Amod was CTO at Flipkart.

Sujeet Kumar: Co-founder at Udaan. Before this venture, Sujeet was the President of Operations at Flipkart for 3 years.

History and Evolution

Prior to coming up with this idea of Udaan, all three co-founders were working together at Flipkart in executive roles. The company originally established itself as a logistics business, and for the first 10 months of operations catered to small customers or dealers working in electronics or apparel categories. After gaining popularity, the company formed its database of customers and dealers and began venturing into the delivery and lending business for merchants.

The company was reported to have onboarded over 180,000 buyers & sellers within the first 2 years of its operations. In September 2018, the company raised a round at a $1B valuation, becoming one of the fastest companies to become a Unicorn in India.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Udaan was severely impacted between April and November 2020. Several merchants on its platform shut down their businesses and Udaan was forced to lay off thousands of its contractual staff. However, in February 2021, the company claimed it had surpassed its losses in the peak covid period.

In September 2021, the company announced a decision to appoint founder Vaibhav Gupta as a CEO, after having run the company under a decentralized joint leadership of all 3 founders. The other co-founders meanwhile became board members.

There is speculation that Udaan may go for an IPO by 2023.

Additional Learnings

• Udaan’s platform provides a number of additional offerings to sellers such as feedback analysis of real-time marketing. This helps sellers on the platform to make better-informed decisions to test their new products in different markets.

• Udaan operates 11 subsidiaries that make up its different offerings such as its B2B marketplace, its logistics offering, its financing arm, and more.

• The 2 categories that saw growth on Udaan’s platform even during the peak of the pandemic were food and pharmaceuticals.

Market Snapshot

• Per an India Times report, Indian retail is a $1 trillion market of which 65% is made up of food & grocery. 96% of the market is unorganized and served by over 14 million kirana stores.

• A typical Indian household was estimated to spend INR 10-12K (~$130-160) worth of food & grocery each month. Meanwhile, the average kirana store was estimated to purchase INR 600K (~$7.9K) worth of products.

• B2B eCommerce players raised $2 Billion across 60 rounds in 2021.

• In July 2021, online B2B commerce was less than 1% of the total retail market in India.

Suggested Next Reads

• The Making of India’s Fastest Unicorn (YourStory Youtube, Aug ‘21)

• Udaan’s revenue jumps 21X in FY20; losses surge to Rs 2,519 Cr (Entrackr, Feb ‘21)

• Udaan back to pre-second wave levels with GMV of $4-5 billion (The Economic Times, July ‘21)

• How Udaan Business Model is Making Revenue (Business Mavericks, Sept ‘21)

• Behind the scenes: Why Udaan finally has a CEO (Money Control, Sept ’21)

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Snapshot

• Founded in 2020, Cart.com has raised just under $500M in equity & debt in under 2 years.

• The company is focused on developing a suite of software solutions & services to enable eCommerce merchants to scale across channels.

• Cart.com has quickly scaled up through key partnerships and acquisitions. The company has acquired over 10 companies to date including prominent software solutions for merchants to build storefronts, sell across marketplaces, manage customer engagement, and run fulfillment.

Overview & Products

Cart.com provides merchants with a number of features to grow and operate their eCommerce business under one roof. These functions include tools such as multi-channel management, storefront building, fulfillment, marketing, payments, and customer service software. The website provides details of what its platform offers: 

• Multi-Channel Management: allows merchants to sell across Amazon, Walmart, and eBay from one platform. The product offers advanced analytics and enables merchants to optimize sales across channels

• Storefront: allows building a storefront, complete with analytics, web design and development 

• Fulfillment: enables order management, fulfillment analytics, packing and shipping services, and inventory storage and management

• Advanced Analytics: offers unified analytics and data science solutions

• Growth Marketing: enables marketing analytics, strategizing and planning, digital and offline marketing, and performance optimization 

• Customer Engagement: allows omnichannel customer support, inbound and outbound telesales, and strategizing

• Funding: offers clients growth capital and working capital

Business Model & Pricing

Cart.com generates revenue in several different ways depending on the needs of its merchants. Merchants are able to sign up and leverage the entire platform or pick which features they need à la carte.

Services are priced differently depending on the offering. For example, the online storefront charges a base subscription fee and then takes a % of the sales. Meanwhile, shipping services are charged on a per-order basis.

Exact pricing across the suite is not provided on the parent company’s website but can sometimes be viewed by going to the pricing pages for its various acquisitions, as with its Americommerce product. Price points are in line with competitive offerings in the industry.

Traction

In just under 2 years, Cart.com has been able to scale quickly through its acquisition-based strategy. In June 2021, the CEO shared that the company was expecting to hit a revenue run rate of over $80M by the end of the year. According to its website, the company currently has 3000+ brand customers and 850+ team members as of Q1 ‘22.

According to a company press release, Cart.com had processed more than $3B in GMV and had opened 9 fulfillment centers in the year leading up to Feb 2022. Revenue was reported to have increased by more than 400% in that time.

Cart.com had made 10 acquisitions as of Feb 2022. Additional information on the traction of its subsidiary companies is shared below in the History and Evolution section.

Founder(s) & Team

Omair Tariq: Co-founder and CEO. Omair held numerous roles at Blinds.com (a Home-Depot owned company) over a decade at the company including serving as its CFO and COO.

Jim Jacobson: Co-founder and Executive Chairman. Jim is the Founder & CEO of Bearing Ventures, a family office, and investment management company. He serves as a Co-Founder and board member to numerous eCommerce ventures including Cart.com, Venture Brands (venture studio focused on eCommerce), EcommerceBrands.com (a brand aggregator), and more.

History & Evolution

Cart.com was founded in 2020 with a mission to create a platform that makes the process easier for online brands to scale. The company was founded on the principles of closing gaps in the eCommerce space and building economies of scale for its partner merchants. In its short operating history, Cart.com has achieved tremendous growth, with acquisitions being a central part of its growth strategy.

Key Acquisitions and partnerships that Cart.com has engaged in include:

• Jan ‘21: Acquired storefront software provider AmeriCommerce. This became the foundation of Cart.com’s eCommerce-as-a-service offering.

• Sept ‘21: Partnered with Clearco, enabling its partner merchants to access Clearco’s capital financing to grow their business. Partner merchants can access funds of up to $10M within 24 hours, without having to give up equity of their company.

• Nov ‘21: Acquired 180Commerce, a tech-enabled agency for digital brands. Areas of expertise for 180Commerce include advertising strategy, content creation and optimization, customer service and reviews management, analytics, and inventory planning.

• Jan ‘22: The company acquired FB Flurry, a national fulfillment provider that at the time was distributing over 35M products annually. With this acquisition, Cart.com merchants can offer next-day delivery across the majority of the U.S.

• Jan ‘22: A week after acquiring FB Flurry, Cart.com acquired SellerActive, a company that provides SaaS multichannel eCommerce tools to over 800 leading brands with over 50 million listings across platforms. SellerActive was reported to be managing over $1.9B in GMV.

• March ‘22: Cart.com acquired DataFeedWatch, a software solution enabling merchants to keep their data feeds and product catalogs updated across channels. The solution also enables merchants to automatically create ads for products across their catalogs.

Market Snapshot

• In 2020 alone, it is estimated that online sales witnessed a growth of 27.6% and crossed $4T as the coronavirus pandemic pushed customers to shop online.  

• In the current eCommerce landscape, anyone trying to grow an online business faces several constraints. One of the greatest challenges is the fragmented options available for scaling and growing a business. More importantly, the current marketplaces may place focus on keeping end-customers happy, but it is often and mostly at the expense of business owners.

• Cart.com originally described its operations as a mix of those on Amazon and Shopify. Amazon boasted over 6 million merchants in 2021 accounting for almost $250B in sales by third-party merchants. Shopify meanwhile boasts over 1 million merchants and over $175B in GMV.

• The average Shopify merchant with $5-10M in sales was cited to be using 27 plugins.

Suggested Next Reads

• Cart.com closes $240M in new funding as explosive growth continues (Cart.com, February ‘22)

• Cart.com empowers brands with unified ecommerce platform (Google Cloud, November ‘21)

• E-commerce-as-a-service platform Cart.com picks up $98M to give brands scaling tools (TechCrunch, August ‘21)

• This startup raised $45 million with the promise it can eliminate the biggest pain points in using Amazon or Shopify and help retailers crack into ecommerce (Cart.com, June ‘21)

These briefs are produced by leveraging publicly available data sources and information. If you notice a mistake or see an area for improvement, please let us know through this form or via email (team@sandhill.io).

Snapshot

Founded in May 2021, GlobalBees is an India-based acquirer of digital merchants across a number of retail categories. The company focuses on optimizing sales across markets both local to India (such as Amazon and Flipkart) as well as through channels overseas.

The startup has acquired more than a dozen brands in its short operating history and has raised $290.7M in debt & equity from notable investors such as Lightspeed India, Softbank Vision Fund, and Indian eCommerce giant FirstCry.

About GlobalBees: Website, LinkedIn

Business Overview and Products

GlobalBees aims to acquire digital brands that have a revenue rate of $1-$20M across categories such as beauty, personal care, home, kitchen, food, lifestyle and others. After the acquisition of select brands, the company helps brands in optimizing marketing, their supply chain, R&D, and other operations. It also helps brands offer their products beyond the South Asian market.

The company’s portfolio of acquired brands includes businesses such as Yellow Chimes (Men & Women’s Jewelry), Better Home (Home Care Products) and Prolixr (Millennial skincare brand).

How It Works

GlobalBees is building in-house capabilities to take brands that have achieved some scale and turbocharger them for growth nationally and overseas. The company is able to provide financing, tech & marketing expertise, and operational advice to scale acquired businesses.

The goal is to build a House of Brands that are fast-growing across categories and that can capitalize on the share infrastructure that GlobalBees is developing.

GlobalBees’ model greatly resembles that of US-based Thrasio which is also focused on acquiring and scaling eCommerce merchants. However, there are several key differences. Whereas Thrasio’s focus is primarily on profitable companies they can acquire at relatively low valuations (ex. at 4-5x EBITDA or 1.5x revenue), GlobalBees’ past and upcoming deals indicate a different buyout strategy. It actively scouts for venture-backed consumer brands that have been unable to scale and are hence looking for a buyer. GlobalBees not only goes for profitable companies and helps them grow; it is also open to buying promising loss-making companies and turning around their operations.

Business Model and Pricing

GlobalBees rolls up eCommerce brands with the intention of increasing the profit that each brand can make after it is acquired. Brands are optimized to increase growth and revenue while leveraging the shared infrastructure that GlobalBees develops to reduce costs across brands.

Traction

Since the beginning of 2021, around half a dozen companies with a similar model as GlobalBees have raised funds. However, GlobalBees with its initial fundraising made its way to the top 3 series A raises ever in India. It intends to deploy the funds over the next 3-4 years, investing $2-$6M per brand acquisition or investment.

The company will also leverage the presence of its investor FirstCry in international markets for sourcing and distribution. Moreover, GlobalBees plans to invest in over 20 brands in 2021. In December 2021, the company revealed its plans to invest in over 100 brands during the next 3 years. In January 2022, CEO Nitin shared that the company has already partnered with 12+ digital brands and currently has over 100 employees.

Founder(s)

Nitin Agarwal:: Co-founder and CEO at GlobalBees. Prior to this, Nitin served as the President and Group CIO, CTO and Chief Digital Officer at Edelweiss Financial Services over a span of 2.5 years. 

Supam Maheshwari: Co-founder at GlobalBees. Prior to this, Supam co-founded FirstCry.com, where he served as a CEO for about 11 years. 

History and Evolution

The model used by GlobalBees was first popularized by Thrasio, an American company focused on purchasing brands on Amazon. Thrasio’s rapid success caught the attention of many founders and investors globally that built similar models, including the GlobalBees team. GlobalBees was founded by FirstCry’s Supam Maheshwari and Edelweiss Financial Service executive Nitin Agarwal in 2021. 

GlobalBees raised a large amount of capital from the start, raising $150M through a mix of equity and debt, leading to one of the largest Series A rounds raised by an Indian startup. The round was led by FirstCry. The company raised another round in a mixture of debt and equity in December 2021, raising it to a unicorn status and bringing in Softbank as an investor, valuing the company at $1.1B.

For the foreseeable future, GlobalBees seeks to go beyond simply making investments in brands. It plans to help the brands scale and diversify their digital footprint through direct-to-consumer channels. It also plans to support product development, branding, and other key activities such as warehousing and logistics. This will be complemented by a focus on improving customer experience and product innovation.

Market Snapshot

• The model that GlobalBees follows is inspired by Thrasio’s model. Many other startups in India are trying to replicate the same model, resulting in excessive competition. 

• India is at the cusp of a D2C revolution with an estimated market size of $200B in the next 5 years. 

• In 2020 alone, 4200+ new brands on Amazon India crossed INR 1 Cr (USD $130k) in sales.

Suggested Next Readings

• FirstCry’s Thrasio-Style GlobalBees Bags $150 Mn Series A Funding; Eyes 30-40 D2C Brand Investments (Inc 42, July ‘21)

• Thrasio-like startup GlobalBees raises $150 mn to create a house of brands (Business Standard, July ‘21)

• GlobalBees success story - How it is scaling brands with its Thrasio-style model (StartupTalky, January ‘22)

These briefs are produced by leveraging publicly available data sources and information. If you notice a mistake or see an area for improvement, please let us know through this typeform or via email (team@sandhill.io).

Snapshot

• Founded in 2018, Zetwerk is a B2B online marketplace for manufacturing that connects businesses and companies with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and EPC (engineering procurement construction) companies.

• The company operates across 15+ countries, however, 85% of its business is concentrated in India. Zetwerk operates in more than 25 industry segments including Apparel and Luxury Goods, Renewables, Oil & Gas, Medical Devices, and more.

• The company’s latest funding round was in December 2021 where it raised $210M in a Series F funding round led by US-based Greenoaks Capital bringing its total valuation to $2.7B.

On the Web: Website, Linkedin

Business Overview & Products

Zetwerk caters to both suppliers and customers by connecting both parties through its platform. It offers a wide range of manufacturing services to its customers like custom-made components, mass production, quality certification, inventory, and supply chain management.

Suppliers on the platform benefit from the partnership in terms of visibility and the opportunity to obtain international orders resulting in increased inbound orders and revenue. Moreover, suppliers are offered financial support like working capital loans and invoice discounting services by the company.

To date, Zetwerk has developed partnerships in 3 key segments: Precision Parts, Capital Goods and Consumer Goods. The product categories include but are not limited to assembly lines for consumer durables, precision parts for aerospace, prefabricated structure for infrastructure projects, and sheet metal for electric vehicles.

The company operates in 15 countries with the majority of its orders coming from established markets like the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and North America.

How It Works

Zetwerk works with OEMs and EPCs to fulfill their manufacturing requirement for customized components and assemblies by procuring relevant materials from high-quality suppliers. The platform connects both parties by offering a precise match between customer requirements and supplier capacity.

The platform executes these projects courtesy of its large network of high-quality partner suppliers and world-class plants. It sells custom-made products like parts of a crane, doors, chassis of different machines, and more. Since it focuses on products that nobody has in stock, orders need to be placed beforehand to manufacturers and workshops. 

The company operates across 25 industry segments and mostly serves customers in forging, casting, fabrication, and machining businesses. These customers approach Zetwerk with digital designs that they want to be translated into physical products. 

Zetwerk lists down potential workshops and evaluates their products and offerings to help companies work with them. Once a company places an order, Zetwerk allows it to track the progress of its order, from manufacturing to shipping. Customers have access to information on shipment, tracking, photos of projects, tax compliance, shipping documentation, and inspection reports.

Since the shipping of products in this industry takes more than 2-3 months, this tracking feature is particularly helpful for customers. Quality checks are also conducted to ensure that each part meets customer requirements so there are no rejections at their end. As a middleman, Zetwerk is able to provide high-quality production, on-time delivery, and project management to its customers and consistent orders and business growth to its supplier. 

Business Model & Pricing

Zetwerk’s business model has evolved immensely since its inception. The company now positions itself as a supplier to their customers so they can delegate orders to the suppliers directly thus increasing efficiency and speed. It has transitioned from a supplier database for large manufacturing companies to a B2B platform for custom manufacturing.

The company mainly earns money by sharing margins with suppliers on their platform. In order to increase their margin, it ensures suppliers experience consistent growth in their businesses. Zetwerk also applies a take-rate on each transaction that takes place between suppliers and customers on the platform. This means industrial segments account for 85% of the enterprise’s revenue. Recently Zetwerk expanded to consumer goods which include items like TVs, mixers, grinders, etc. This category now makes up for 15% of the company’s revenue.

Traction

According to an Inc42 article, Zetwerk reported $180M in revenue in 2021 which was roughly a 2.5x increase from its $42M revenue in 2020. Ever since its inception, the company has witnessed incredible growth with a 300% yearly growth rate. This growth is evident by their order book which has crossed over $655M and showcases predictability in business for the rest of the year. Due to this consistent upward trajectory, over 1,800 organizations trust Zetwerk with their contract manufacturing needs. It also claims to be profitable on an Earning Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBIDTA) basis.

According to their website, as of March 2022, Zetwerk has:

• 9 million+ manufactured parts

• 1,800 active customers

• 8,000 active suppliers

• 25+ industries

• 2000+ projects

Founder(s) & Team

Amrit Acharya: Co-Founder and CEO at Zetwerk, prior to which Amrit was an associate at McKinsey and Company where he built a dynamic pricing engine and also helped design an M&A strategy for the F500 company. 

Srinath Ramakkrushnan: Co-Founder at Zetwerk, prior to which Srinath co-founded OfBusiness, a raw material aggregator and procurement finance provider.

Vishal Chaudhary: Co-Founder at Zetwerk, prior to which Vishal was the Supply Chain Manager at ITC Limited, where he led a 30 member strong supply chain function of India's largest Leaf Tobacco Business.

Rahul Sharma: Co-Founder at Zetwerk, prior to which Rahul co-founded Prepnut, a job interview preparation site for college graduates. 

History & Evolution

• Zetwerk was founded in 2018 as a database of suppliers for companies struggling to manage their supply chains. The founders created software to help large manufacturing companies organize their supply chain databases. 

• Within 30 days in June 2018, the company decided to pivot from a SaaS venture to a B2B marketplace where customers could discover niche suppliers. This sudden change was due to customer feedback and it did wonders for the company.

• However, soon after the company started receiving complaints from customers about late orders. To deal with this issue, they decided to pivot again by positioning themselves as a supplier to their customers. This final transition helped them delegate orders to multiple suppliers and as a result ensure timely delivery. This model not just increased their orders but also translated into revenue.

• In September 2018, the company received its first international order from Singapore and then another from Bangladesh, officially marking its entrance into the global market.

• In December 2019, Zetwerk decided to capture the international market by setting up a small sales presence in North America and some channel partners in Europe. This step helped elevate its international position and as a result, it started receiving multiple international orders.

• In 2021, Zetwerk expanded to apparel and consumer durable sectors due to an increased demand and supply chain disruptions post the coronavirus outbreak. The company worked closely with apparel brands and retail chains to produce products of various knits and weaves. The aim was to help suppliers modernize their strategies and make their manufacturing processes more strong.

• That year the company forayed into the aerospace and defense sector by setting up a fully owned subsidiary to manufacture satellites, composite products, and rocket casings. It also decided to build components for aircraft only for international OEMs.

From archive.org 

Market Snapshot

• India is expected to become the 3rd largest construction market in the world with its contribution to the country’s GDP increasing to 13% by 2025.

• Foreign Direct Investments in the construction sector were estimated to be $26.16B and activities of the sector stood at $25.95B.

• The construction industry in India is expected to reach $1.4 Tn by 2025.

• In the past 5 years, the construction sector in India contributed an average of 8% to the overall Gross Value Added (GVA).

Additional Learnings

Zetwerk stands out from its competitors because it not only focuses on infrastructure and construction sectors but also works for industries like aerospace and defense. The company also thrives on building custom-made niche parts for its customers which is a competitive advantage for the enterprise.

Suggested Next Reads

• Unicorn In 3 Years Traversing Path Less Taken (S Shanthi, Entrepreneur Europe, Sep ‘21)

• 'We will use the funds to grow globally; we are eyeing 2-5 acquisitions this year' (Tarush Bhalla, Livemint, Aug ‘21)

• How Zetwerk battled fear of the unknown to turn unicorn in three years (Rajiv Singh, Forbes India, Aug ‘21)

• How Zetwerk is Changing Product Sourcing in the Global Manufacturing Industry | SeedToScale (Seed to Scale, July ‘20)

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Snapshot

Founded in 2019, Airlift is an express grocery delivery service headquartered in Lahore, Pakistan. The company aims to deliver essentials in under 30 minutes across cities in Pakistan and recently expanded into South Africa.

The company’s model resembles that of quick-commerce players that have attracted billions in funding globally such as Getir (Turkey), Gorillas (Germany), Jokr (US), blinkit (India), and others.

Airlift started as a private transportation network providing a bus service for commuters. However, the coronavirus pandemic led to a suspension of Airlift’s transportation services and forced the company to pivot.

The company initially raised eyebrows in 2019 for raising a notable Series A for its transit business from First Round Capital, the firm that led Uber’s seed round. Airlift has in total raised $109.2M to date. The last round, an $85M Series B by Harry Stebbings and Josh Buckley, was reported to value the company at a reported $275M.

About Airlift: Website, LinkedIn

Business Overview & Products

Airlift Express delivers a large range of products in 30-60 minutes to consumers. Their service covers categories such as food supplies, household supplies, pharma, stationery, fresh fruits and vegetables, and electronics. Delivery fees are tiered depending on the size of the cart and are waived above a certain cart size. The service is currently available across 8 cities in Pakistan and 3 cities in South Africa.

The company’s initial transportation service called Airlift Transit was halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained suspended. The website of their transit service cites the suspension is temporary – it remains unclear whether they will resume service in the future given the pivot.

How It Works

Via the Airlift Express service, the company offers express delivery of grocery orders within 30 minutes. Shoppers can choose from a wide selection of products that are delivered with fixed transport charges depending on the order value. Delivery charges are waived over a certain cart size. The company supports both Cash on Delivery (COD) as well as digital payments.

Customers can place an order through their mobile apps or website. Orders can be live-tracked and customers can receive real-time updates if they prefer. Orders may also be canceled within 60 seconds of placing. For scheduled deliveries, customers may cancel orders an hour before their scheduled time slot.

On Airlift’s end, it operates a network of mid-fulfillment centers and dark stores that receive inventory from manufacturers and suppliers. The company leverages advanced demand forecasting algorithms to predict which products will be in demand and stocks the fulfillment centers and dark stores appropriately. The service is operational 24 hours a day in select areas, and from 8am-11pm in others. The service is accessible seven days a week.

Business Model & Pricing

For any orders placed via Airlift express, delivery charges vary according to order size. There is a minimum order limit of PKR 500. The delivery rates vary as such:

• Flat fee of PKR 100 for orders below PKR 500

• PKR 30 for orders above PKR 500 and below PKR 1000  

• PKR 10 for orders above PKR 1000

• Free delivery on orders above PKR 10,000

The company often offers promotions with free delivery on smaller cart sizes.

In addition to delivery charges, Airlift makes a margin on each product sold much like a traditional retailer.

Traction

A deep dive by Pakistan Today highlighted many insightful metrics on Airlift although several were questioned in the report. Airlift was reported to have reached a $50M GMV run rate as of September 2021. Its average order value was reported to be PKR 1,285 (~$7.30) with over 10,000 daily orders being reported.

In its Series B announcement on TechCrunch from August 2021, the company was reported to operate more than 30 dark stores. The company also highlighted plans to expand internationally, starting with South Africa.

A MENAbytes report from August 2021 reported Airlift’s blended customer acquisition cost (CAC) to be $5.

Founder(s) & Team

Usman Gul: Co-founder and CEO at Airlift. Prior to Airlift, he was a Sr. Manager in charge of enterprise partnerships at DoorDash at their headquarters in San Francisco.

Meher Farrukh: Co-founder at Airlift. Prior to Airlift, she was a finance analyst at Coca-Cola Beverages in Pakistan.

Ahmed Ayub: Co-founder at Airlift. He previously founded a company called EXPERIA and had been an executive at several IT companies in Pakistan.

History and Evolution

Founder Usman Gul came up with the idea of Airlift after a vacation he took to Lahore. During this, he experienced an inefficiency in the local transportation options. To deal with the problem of congestion, he and fellow co-founders Meher and Ahmed launched a pilot project in the city in March 2019. The pilot was initially self-funded. 

In less than 5 months of its operations, Airlift grew to 50,000 rides per month. It also managed to secure funding worth $2.2M in the 5th month of operations. The company’s launch raised a lot of praise as ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Careem were attracting criticism for putting more cars on traffic-clogged roads. This was an issue, especially in already congested cities, where options for local transport are still far and few.

By July 2019, the startup had expanded its operations to Karachi and acquired about 50,000 riders in Lahore in less than 5 months of operations. When the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020, it disrupted all public transport and Airlift Transit was temporarily suspended. Operations were originally halted until March 2021, however, it remains to be seen whether the transport service will be resumed or not. To curb losses, the company quickly looked towards other avenues.

Airlift then introduced an online grocery service known as "Airlift Express" in July 2020 and is currently fully focused on this quick commerce model. The service has been expanded to South Africa. Airlift closed its latest Series B funding round of $85M on 18th August 2021 and aims to expand this service to other countries.

Product & Company Reviews

Competitive Intel

Ad Intel & Value Props

• Airlift Express’ mainly focuses its ads on its free delivery offering and 30-minute delivery guarantee.

• The company likewise does ad campaigns targeted at new geographies it services

• A few of its ads are focused on seasonal discounts and offerings.

View all Facebook Ads: Active Ads Link

Additional Learnings

• Prior to Airlift, founder Usman worked at the food delivery business DoorDash (headquartered in San Francisco). The founder and CEO of DoorDash, Tony Xu, was among the first few angel investors to support Airlift.

• According to a source, the transport sector contributes about a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions in Pakistan. Airlift was launched upon the principle of reducing carbon footprint in the country.

• There is a program in place called the Airlift Rewards Program. It offers customers the chance to earn points on every item they purchase. These points can then be redeemed for free grocery coupons amounting to PKR 1500 in the Airlift Rewards section of the app.

• Airlift may be on its way to becoming Pakistan’s first-ever unicorn.

Market Snapshot

• The food and grocery retail market in Pakistan generated total revenues of $59.3B in 2018, indicating a CAGR of roughly 8.4% from 2014 to 2018.

• In 2020, the grocery market in Pakistan was around $48B out of the total $125B retail market in the country.

• Internet penetration in Pakistan has gone up by 35% as of January 2020, indicating an increased dependency on online shopping as a whole.

Suggested Next Reads

• Pakistan’s Airlift raises $85 million for its quick commerce startup, eyes international expansion (TechCrunch, August ’21)

• Interview: In a conversation with Usman Gul, co-founder & CEO of Airlift (MENAbytes, October ’19)

• Airlift – A great addition to Pakistan’s public transport system (The Nation, August ‘19)