#FundingAlert: Bijnis receives secondary round of funding from prominent investors
B2B startup Bijnis on Thursday announced that it had concluded a secondary funding round raising an undisclosed amount. The deal saw shares owned by early investors sold to industry stalwarts Deepinder Goyal, Asish Mohapatra, Sarvbir Singh, and Manish Vij. In July last year, Bijnis raised $10 million. This primary round was led by investors such as Matrix Partners, Info Edge, Sequoia India, and WaterBridge.
Bijnis CEO says company is glad to have industry-veteran investors
The new investors are prominent figures who already run successful companies. Goyal co-founded Zomato, Mohapatra founded OfBusiness, Singh is the CEO at PolicyBazaar, and Manish Vij co-founded Smile Group. Bijnis CEO Siddharth Vij said the company is glad to have investors who built new businesses from scratch. He added that there is much to learn and leverage from their experience.
Bijnis helps factories build their own distribution networks
Bijnis is a digital platform that connects unorganized manufacturers directly to retailers. It was founded in 2015 by Siddharth Vij, Chaitanya Rathi, Siddharth Rastogi, and Shubham Agarwal. The Bijnis factory app helps factories build their own distribution channels without middlemen. At present, Bijnis says it is actively making efforts to help manufacturers from the fashion and lifestyle categories.
Distribution networks witness increased investment from manufacturers and investors
B2B enterprises and wholesale distributor networks in India such as Bijnis and IndiaMART have seen a dramatic rise in investment from local manufacturers and investors. The push comes following the government's Make in India initiative which encourages local MSMEs to increase production. The scheme also incentivizes investments directed towards the manufacturing and whole distribution sectors.
Private equity investors see growth in wholesale distribution sector
As a result of the Make in India initiative, the stock prices for platforms like Bijnis and IndiaMART have also seen an increase. The fresh flow of funds in the sector can be attributed to private equity investors forecasting long-term growth in the sector. At present, Bijnis sources from over 1,000 factories and connects them to more than 100,000 retailers on its platform.
