E-commerce enabler KartRocket raises $6 million

The company caters to the burgeoning SME market in India by enabling merchants to go online under their own brand

E-commerce enabler, KartRocket, has raised $6 million in a funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), a strategic investment arm of Bertelsmann in India. Existing investors Nirvana Digital India Fund, Nirvana Digital Investment Holding Co Limited, US-based 500 Start-Ups and Singapore-based Beenext also participated in the fresh round of funding.

KartRocket, which had previously raised its seed round from angel investors 5Ideas Startup Superfuel and 500 Startups in 2013, and Series-A round from Nirvana Venture Advisors, 500 Startups and Beenos in 2014, currently caters to the burgeoning SME (small and medium enterprises) market in India by enabling merchants to go online under their own brand. The platform provides a web and mobile site, payments and logistics capabilities, in-built marketing and promotion tools as well as integrations with leading (business-to-business) B2C marketplaces to provide an end-to-end e-commerce experience.

KartRocket has in September 2015 launched Kraftly, a mobile-first O2O (online-to-offline) marketplace that is targeting small sellers, individuals and homepreneurs in India in long-tail categories such as apparel, accessories, home, crafts, and other unique and eclectic  products. The platform can be accessed via web as well as both Android and iOS apps.

"The current eco-system is not supportive of integrating smaller sellers into ecommerce. in fact, they aim towards replacing them rather than including them. Kraftly has a single vision of allowing every seller to participate in ecommerce. There are over 50 million homepreneurs and small sellers in India who currently do not have a medium of launching their sales online. By bringing such sellers online we are building the largest supply base of unique products for buyers to choose from. The fresh investment will help us with cutting-edge product development, talent acquisition, seller eco-system development and performance marketing," Saahil Goel, co-founder and chief executive officer of KartRocket, said in a statement on Monday.

Currently boasting of more than 7,500 shops, Kraftly is adding over 10,000 listings per day, the company said.