Philippine-based e-commerce startup GrowSari, who builds a platform to help digitse local small businesses known as sari-sari, today announced a US$77.5 million Series C funding round that brings its total funding to US$110 million, according to various media reports.
Led by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and KKR, the Pavilion Capital of the Temase Group also participation in the funding round.
This funding round followed an undisclosed Series B funding round that the company announced in June 2021.
In a statement, GrowSari CEO and Co-Founder Reymund Rollan said that the company plans to use the funding to support its expansion plan.
“Not only will this funding allow us to fuel our growth, but this will also help us bring top global quality talent in Operations, Technology, and Data Science into the startup ecosystem of the Philippines,” he said.
The startup said it is also in talks for its next round of funding.
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Founded in 2016, GrowSari aims to help sari-sari store owners transform into comprehensive service hubs for the nation’s grassroots communities. It intends to grow the stores’ potential to be the biggest and most accessible distribution channel in the Philippines by driving efficiencies in route planning while collecting valuable insights on store behavior.
Sari-sari stores can access better pricing for more than a thousand fast-moving store stock-keeping units (SKUs) from the largest brands across all the major FMCG categories through the GrowSari app.
The startup also provides microfinancing support and assistance, and other e-services including telco, bills payment, and remittance.
GrowSari said that from a base of 1,000 sari-sari stores in three cities back in 2018, it has grown to service more than 100,000 stores in over 220 municipalities across Luzon.
It has also expanded to the Visayas over the last 12 months and will soon also be in Mindanao.
In addition to existing services, it will also begin offering financial services and logistics.
In Southeast Asia, startups that are working with mom-and-pop stores is one of the verticals that have been getting investors’ attention recently. In Indonesia, companies such as Kioson have listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange, being one of the first tech startups to do so, while Warung Pintar has recently been acquired by SIRCLO Group.
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