Dhaka-based B2B commerce startup ShopUp announced that it has raised $65 million in a follow-on funding round led by Valar Ventures. First reported by DealStreetAsia, the new round comes after Shopup completed a $109 million Series B round six months ago from Valar Ventures, Tiger Global, Prosus Ventures, Flourish Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Veon Ventures.
Citing ShopUp's regulatory filings with Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, DeaStreetAsia writes, Valar Ventures contributed around $56 million to the round, while Flourish Ventures and its affiliate Ohana acquired shares worth around $7 million. The shares are being issued at about $56 apiece, the same as the company's previous funding round, the report says.
ShopUp had closed a $34 million Series B extension round in January, following its Series B round in September. The company says it has since grown four times. The existing investors are doubling down with this follow-on round. ShopUp raised its $22.5 million Series A in October 2020.
Founded in Dhaka in 2016 by Afeef Zubaer Zaman, Siffat Sarwar and Ataur Rahim Chowdhury, ShopUp says it has built a full-stack business-to-business commerce platform. The company offers a number of core services to small businesses including B2B sourcing through a wholesale marketplace, logistics, and working capital through partnerships with banks and other partners and business management solutions.
ShopUp’s B2B commerce app Mokam has seen excellent growth. It allows small retail shops to access products of manufacturers, producers and distributors with 24-hour doorstep delivery. The company also allows shop owners to buy products on credit using ShopUp’s Baki, a buy now, pay later product embedded in the app.
ShopUp has gone through a series of evolutions over the years. In 2020, Shopup acquired Indian fashion e-commerce startup Voonik.
There are 4.5 Million neighborhood mom-and-pop shops in Bangladesh, known locally as Mudi Dokaans, that account for 98% of the country's retail sector. This makes Bangladesh one of the most fragmented retail markets in Asia. These businesses face many challenges including unavailability of products, compounded by other challenges such as the lack of transparent pricing and inefficient delivery systems, etc.
ShopUp says it has been creating solutions to the problems these mom-and-pop shops face.
