Logistics startup Ripplr bags $40 Mn in Fireside-led Series B round

Ripplr, a tech distribution and logistics platform, has raised $40 million in a Series B round led by Fireside Ventures and with participation from new investors Bikaji and Neo Foods. Existing investors 3one4 Capital, Zephyr Peacock, and Japanese conglomerate Sojitz Corporation also participated.

The round also witnessed debt participation from Strides Ventures, Alteria Capital, Northern Arc Investments and Trifecta Capital.

Ripplr will utilize the funds to strengthen its supply chain platform, grow the team, and expand into new geographies, the company said in a press release.

The four-year-old Ripplr offers a plug-and-play integrated distribution network offering distribution as a service (DaaS) to help brands manage and digitize their operations.

The firm’s distribution network consists of as many as 24 warehouses across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Pune. It also services over 80,000 tier 2-based retailers having long-term partnerships with FMCG brands like HUL, Britannia, ITC, Nestle, Mondelez, Colgate Reckitt Benckiser, Godrej, Dabur, and Nivea, among others.

To date, the Bengaluru-based firm has raised $56 million in funding. This includes a $12 million equity and debt raise from Japanese firm Sojitz Corporation and Stride Ventures in December 2021.

The company claims to have grown exponentially in the last four years, scaling business to across 12 cities. Ripplr also claims to be operationally profitable.

While it hasn’t disclosed profit numbers, Santosh Dabke, co-founder of the company, claimed that the firm recorded a revenue of about Rs 900 crore in FY23. About 90% of the revenues came from the distribution business, he added.

In FY22, Ripplr’s operating revenue jumped 5.8X to Rs 275 crore as compared to Rs 47.8 crore in FY21, according to the standalone financial statement with the RoC. The company's losses surged 86.7% to Rs 9.09 crore in FY22 from Rs 4.87 crore in FY21.