Walmart and Flipkart invest in Ninjacart

Ninjacart has become one of the largest funded startups in business-to-business (B2B) supply chain solutions segment with a fresh capital infusion from Walmart and Flipkart, the e-commerce marketplace controlled by the retail giant.

While the company hasn't revealed the size of the deal, previous media reports and sources aware of the development expect it to be around $50 million.

This would be second-largest funding round for the Bengaluru-based startup which had closed a $90 million Series C round led by Tiger Global in April this year. Excluding this round, the startup has raised close to $150 million across equity and debt rounds.

Partnering with Ninjacart will help Walmart and Flipkart strengthen the direct sourcing of fresh produce for Walmart India’s Best Price B2B cash-and-carry stores and Flipkart’s online grocery business Supermart.

Walmart is aiming to source 25% of produce in its Best Price cash-and-carry stores directly from farmers by 2023. Walmart India owns and operates 27 Best Price Modern Wholesale stores and 3 Fulfillment Centres in 9 States across India.

Post the deal, Ninjacart will look to leverage the synergy to expand its customer base, expansion in new cities, and to enhance the efficiency of the local fresh produce ecosystem.

Founded by Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Kartheeswaran K K, Ashutosh Vikram, Sharath Loganathan and Vasudevan Chinnathambi, Ninjacart enables retailers and restaurants to source fresh produce directly from the farmers at competitive prices and get it delivered at the doorstep.

The four-year-old startup claims to have a network of more than 200 collection centres and 1,200 warehouses in India. By doubling down on volume in the past four months, it moves over 1,400 tons of fresh produce on a daily basis from more than 25,000 farmers and supplies to over 50,000 stores across the country.

Accel Partners, Steadview Capital, Syngenta Ventures, Qualcomm ventures and Nandan Nilekani are the other investors in Ninjacart.

Ninjacart directly competes with Crofarm and remotely with Udaan.

Recently, WayCool was in talks with Lightbox to raise around $10 million. After Shadowfax, Ninjacart will be the second growth stage startup in which Flipkart has invested. The B2B logistics startup had recently raised $60 million round led by the e-commerce giant.