Wheelocity, a Chennai-based start-up, raised $12 million in series A funding. The funding round was led by Lightspeed and it had other participants including Anicut Capital.Â
On July 12, the start-up scheduled its first funding round and was successful in raising $12 million (₹94 crores). The funding round was led by Lightspeed, the venture capital company. Participation from Anicut capital and other investors was also reported. The proposition discussed the share distribution of equity and venture debt. The venture debt was estimated at $2 million. The company has stated that the funds raised will be used for new product development.
Currently, the company is operating in 17 cities in India and plans to work in 30 cities by the year-end. The company deals with daily fruit and vegetable requirements for B2B businesses. Their main aim is to reduce the wastage of these foods by fixing the supply chain issues. To ensure this they are going to enable their customers to directly buy from the farmers. They have a developed system where; with the help of distribution centres, dark stores, and logistics services, they can easily arrange their setup in a city in a week.
The company supplies fruits and vegetables to e-commerce giants like Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, Blinkit, and Dunzo. They handle the entire supply chain for this. If any company wants to sell fruits or vegetables via the D2C model, they can tie up with Wheelocity. Their plan also includes the distribution of dairy products, meat, and poultry along with fruits and vegetables. The company processes 700 tonnes of fresh food daily. Their supply chain model is also described as sustainable. Currently, their core competitor is Ninjacart which also has similar aims and is dealing with identical systems.Â
Wheelocity was started in September 2021 by Selvam VMS and Senthil Kumar. With their first round of funding the company plans to develop their technologies with their products and work on efficiency. Their plan to expand across the country is also on the cards. The company is also hiring for various posts in the operations, product, and technology sectors. The posts available also include hiring for the founder’s office.
With its current functions and its plans for expanding the company is expected to grow fast across the country. In less than a year the company has managed to raise a considerable amount of funds and has shown great progress. The expansion of Wheelocity will prove beneficial for e-commerce companies and will solve their supply chain issues.Â
