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The company has raised the funds from SME lending platforms, high-network individuals and NBFCs

The company has also inked a partnership with Grip Invest for leasing infrastructure through their crowdfunding platform

Taikee has claimed that the company has been witnessing month-on-month (MoM) double-digit growth since last year, and been recording a monthly turnover of INR 100 Cr

Peel-Works, the Mumbai-based B2B retail tech company that operates the kirana procurement platform Taikee, has raised INR 12 Cr from a slew of investors, as it looks to streamline its inventory procurement operations. 

The company has raised the funds from SME lending platforms, high-network individuals and NBFCs. The company has also inked a partnership with Grip Invest for leasing infrastructure through their crowdfunding platform. 

“Grip Invest will be leasing warehousing racks and totes worth INR 1 Cr to Taikee through this model, thus reducing the logistic costs and opening scaling opportunities for the company. In return, the investors will be able to get up to a whopping 21% return on their investments in three years,” said Sachin Chhabra, founder and CEO of Peel-Works. 

Founded in 2010 by Sachin Chhabra and Nidhi Ramachandran, Peel-Works is a tech and data analytics company specialising in ecommerce for kirana stores. Its flagship product Taikee has tie-ups with leading grocery brands, making it convenient for retailers to source a wide assortment at low prices through a single app. 

Given the increase in demand for online grocery amid the pandemic, Taikee has claimed that the company has been witnessing month-on-month (MoM) double-digit growth since last year, with a monthly turnover of INR 100 Cr. 

According to a recent RedSeer report titled, “Online Grocery: What Brands Need To Know“, the online grocery market in India, which had recorded $1.9 Bn GMV (gross merchandise value) in 2019, was expected to grow to $3 Bn GMV by the end of 2020. The growth was attributed to several factors but primarily the Covid-19 tailwinds for the segment. Online grocery stores witnessed a rise in demand while countrywide lockdown restrictions were in place.

The report said that the change in consumer behaviour amid the pandemic, resulting in an increased preference for online grocery is likely to stick. This would help the online grocery stores increase their share in the overall food and grocery market from 0.3% last year to 2.3% by 2024, as the online grocery segment is growing at a CAGR of 57%. 

“Peel-Works is providing a powerful and timely supply chain proposition to empower kirana stores and allow them to remain competitive. Grip is excited to leverage its platform and investor base to lease the warehouse equipment Peel-Works requires for its next stage of growth,” said Nikhil Aggarwal, CEO at Grip about the partnership. 

A couple of months ago, Peel-Works had secured venture debt worth around $3 Mn from BlackSoil Capital and others.

To date, the company has raised about $19 Mn from its marquee investors including HDFC Bank, Chiratae Ventures, Unilever Ventures, Indian Angel Network, BlackSoil amongst others and is looking to break even by the end of this fiscal year.