Village commerce tech startup 1Bridge raises $2.5 mn in fresh funding round

Village-tech enterprise RubanBridge Pvt. Ltd (1Bridge), a last-mile supply chain and distribution network focusing on the villages in rural India, has raised  $2.5 million in a fresh round of funding. The Bengaluru-based firm is witnessing huge demand generated through the Covid-19 pandemic with positive tailwinds for the village-tech sector in India.

The funding was led by Netherlands-based impact investor C4D Partners, an early investor for the last 4 years. The funding round also included participation from new investors such as KAAJ Ventures (venture fund of Silicon Valley-based serial entrepreneur and angel investor BV Jagadeesh), angel investors like Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner of Accel Partners; Puneet Jetli, co-founder of Happiest Minds and Aradhana D Chatterjee, a venture capital and private equity executive. 

Existing angel investor Prashanth Boccasam, a US-based serial tech-entrepreneur, and investor also participated in this round with a significant investment.  1Bridge has also raised its maiden working capital facility from Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth, an Ahmedabad-based Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).

“With this investment, we aim to expand the network, strengthen our technology and data capabilities, roll out 1Bridge Experience Zones at the Taluk-level,” said Madan Padaki, social entrepreneur and founder and CEO of 1Bridge. “We would expand our partnerships for last-mile supply chain and distribution – while pursuing profitable growth.”

With this round of funding, 1Bridge is planning to deepen its reach as a supply chain and distribution network across another 10,000 villages by adding 10,000 more entrepreneurs. It would roll out over 500 ‘1Bridge Experience Centres’ at various Tehsil and Block towns that will enable consumers to touch and feel aspirational products. It also aims to expand its product and service offerings through strategic partnerships with consumer durables brands and fintech and credit companies that are looking to expand their reach in rural hinterlands.

1Bridge was launched in May 2016 by Madan Padaki and co-founders Anil Kumar, chief operating officer and M Chakrawarty, chief of growth and partnerships. It is a village commerce platform that provides a wide range of aspirational products and digital services at the doorsteps of village consumers. It works with local rural entrepreneurs or ‘1Bridge Advisors’ to help deliver these products and fulfill services through an intuitive mobile-based tech platform. The firm has built a presence in over 70 districts of Southern India and is presently operational in states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha. To date, 1Bridge has onboarded over 10,000 strong network of entrepreneurs, fulfilled 35 million transactions for rural consumers, and served 1.5 million village consumers directly.