ShopUp is a company that has a mission to digitalize local stores in Bangladesh The company has raised $75 million through a financing round, which is the largest on the South Asian market.
Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures led ShopUp‘s $75 million Series B round. Prosus Ventures, as well as the existing investors Flourish Ventures and Sequoia Capital India, as well as VEON Ventures, also invested in the round. The latest funding, which increases the company’s total investment to more than $100 million, is also Valar’s as well as Prosus’s first deals made in Bangladesh, which is home to More than 100 million people over 100 million users.
As in India, local stores account for more than 90% of retail sales in Bangladesh.There are around 4.5 million mom and pop stores across Bangladesh, and the majority do not have an online presence.
Like India, Pakistan, and several other Asian countries, the small stores in Bangladesh face numerous issues. They aren’t able to access the vast stock selection, and they are unable to bargain for a good price and speedy delivery. In the case of these smaller stores, the majority of their sales are processed through credit, not payment in cash or via digital, which creates a huge liquidity problem.
ShopUp is trying to solve these issues. It has developed the company’s complete-stack business-to-business hire WooCommerce developers. ShopUp offers a range of services that are essential to the stores, such as wholesale marketplaces that help secure stock and logistical support (including the delivery of the last mile to consumers) as well as working capital. (Like many other startups that are based in India, ShopUp has banking as well as other partners that offer working capital.)
In the last year, ShopUp has expanded its services and expanded its presence in Bangladesh, Afeef Zaman, co-founder and chief executive officer at ShopUp, said during an interview with TechCrunch. For instance, it has joined forces with some of the largest manufacturing companies as well as distributors and producers to supply inventory to small businesses, according to Zaman. The logistics options offered by the company are the biggest in Bangladesh.
like many other companies, was impacted by the pandemic. ShopUp, on the other hand, is beginning to recover as the country does, he added.Overall, the company has expanded more than 13 times over the past year, he noted.
“The ShopUp management team ShopUp has shown outstanding results during the last 12 months. They’ve become market leaders due to the double-digit growth in three products that are designed for small-scale companies that are not being served in Bangladesh. In the frontier economies that are growing at a rapid rate, like Bangladesh small-scale enterprises are the primary driver of the economy. “We are thrilled to partner with Afeef’s idea to create in-depth services to aid their transition into an economic system which is digital.” James Fitzgerald, founding partner of Valar Ventures, said in an announcement.
Zaman states that the last year has seen an exponential growth in the usage of technology within small-scale businesses in Bangladesh. “They use a wide range of web-based-based services currently. “It’s not only ShopUp however, it’s also messaging as well as digital transactions” officials said. “We expect the trend to remain the case.”
The Dhaka-based startup operates an office within Bangalore, India, where the majority of its tech and engineering talent is based. It plans to utilize the funds to expand the size of its team. As part of the recent round of funding, Zaman stated that the company has grown the size of its company’s stock options for employees by 3 times.
“This investment marks ShopUp’s entry in Bangladesh one of the fastest-growing economies over the past decade. ShopUp has demonstrated an impressive performance-oriented approach to meeting the demands of various small-scale companies in a highly competitive market. “We are delighted to be part of the efforts of ShopUp to create an ecosystem that includes millions of retailers, and assist them in becoming an integral part of India’s economic growth,” Ashutosh Sharma, the director of investment for India of Prosus Ventures, said in an announcement.
