ElasticRun turns Unicorn with $300 mn funding from SoftBank, Goldman Sachs

Kirana commerce platform ElasticRun has entered the unicorn club after raising $300 million in a fresh round of funding led by SoftBank.

The funding also saw participation from New York-based Goldman Sachs, Prosus Ventures (earlier known as Naspers Ventures), Innoven Capital, and Abu Dhabi’s Chimera Investment, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s Royal Group.

The startup had raised $75 million in a Series D funding round led by Avataar Venture Partners in April last year.

Kirana is a small, usually family-owned grocery shop.

Funded by Sandeep Deshmukh, Saurabh Nigam and Shitiz Bansal, the startup has a footprint of over 500 locations in across 28 states. Among the major brands the company works with include Amazon, Brittania, Marco, CocaCola, and Wipro.

The startup which enables businesses to reach small Kirana stores in the deep rural parts of India acts as an extended arm of FMCG companies’ direct distribution networks by helping them reach customers in far-flung areas through its network of rural Kirana stores.  

With ElasticRun, six Indian companies have achieved unicorn status so far this year. Social e-commerce startup DealShare became the fifth unicorn of the year with $165 million fundraise, following the entry of HR tech startup Darwinbox, ed-tech firm LEAD, analytics company Fractal, and mother care entity Mamaearth in the coveted unicorn club.

Image credit: news.microsoft.com