Main Highlights
- Shop Up has secured $75 million in a fresh funding round which is also the largest in the market for South Asian neighborhood businesses in Bangladesh.
- ShopUp is a business platform providing small enterprises with business management tools.
- The ShopUp Store offers a simple start to your online company for your users.
- The ShopUp Reseller lets users without investment begin their company.
ShopUp has secured $75 million in a fresh funding round which is also the largest in the market for South Asian neighborhood businesses in Bangladesh. The $75 million B series financing was headed by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures. Flourish Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, and VEON Ventures have also invested in the round, as have existing investors.
Valar’s and Prosus’ initial transactions in Bangladesh are also the new investment which increases the all-time increase to over $100 million. It is home to more than 100 million internet users. More than 95% of retail in Bangladesh passes via local shops, as does its neighboring country, India. In the country, there are roughly 4.5 million such mom and pop businesses, with no internet presence in the great majority of them.
In Bangladesh, these tiny businesses confront several obstacles. There is no access to a wide catalog for the selection of inventories and good prizing and rapid delivery cannot be negotiated. More than two-thirds of all purchases to these tiny shops still are generating a huge liquidity constraint, instead of cash and digital payments.
This is what ShopUp tries to address. It has created what they consider a complete platform for business-to-business trade. The company offers a range of key services, including a wholesale market for the security of inventories, transportation, and working capital.
ShopUp’s Objective
ShopUp is a business platform providing small enterprises with business management tools. Their objective is to utilize technology for easier access to B2B and last-mile logistics to overload companies. Mokam – the business B2B platform of ShopUp – provides access to more than 10,000 items, serving 500,000 local stores – all of them available at the touch of one button.
The logistics service REDX – supercharges both the largest Last Mile Logistics Network in Bangladesh to small businesses and major companies. Baki – the DFP offers loans, enabling thousands of small businesses to find a simple alternative to traditional financing difficulties.
The ShopUp Store offers a simple start to your online company for your users. With Store, you can quickly establish your website in minutes, manage your order and report your income. The Reseller lets users without investment begin their company. Users will be able to use ShopUp to resale items on the market at the lowest price.
In the past year, Affeef Zaman, co-founder, and chief executive officer of ShopUp, has increased its offering and its foothold in Bangladesh. It has collaborated, for example, with the nation’s biggest producer, distributor, and manufacturer to secure and provide small stores with the inventory. Their supply of logistics in Bangladesh is already the biggest.
The company was affected by the epidemic, like numerous others, but as the country opens, it begins to see recovery, he added. Overall, in the last year, the company has risen more than 13 times. In the previous 12 months, the management team at ShopUp demonstrated outstanding performance skills.
The two-digit increase in three items for the poorly serviced small enterprises in Bangladesh became obvious leading market leaders. Small enterprises are the major motor of the economy in fast-growing border countries like Bangladesh. James Fitzgerald, the founding partner of Valar Ventures, said: “We are thrilled to join in the ambition of Afeef to develop a connected product ecosystem in order to monitor its transition to the internet market rapidly.
Zaman added that the technological adoption of these small enterprises in Bangladesh has surged during the past year. “Many Internet services are now being used by them. Not only shops but messages and virtual money as well,” he stated. “We’re expecting that this will continue.”
How is ShopUp planning to use the funds?
The Dhaka start-up, located in Bangalore, where the vast majority of its technological and technical skills are situated, is planning to use the new cash, partly to grow its staff. Zaman said the firm has three times enlarged its stock option pool as part of the current investment.
ShopUp has proven a strong execution focus in meeting a diverse set of demands for small companies in a fragmented market. “We are pleased to support their efforts to empower millions of shopkeepers and enable them to participate in the country’s economic growth,” said Ashutosh Sharma, Prosus Ventures’ Head of Investments for India.
