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Chennai-based Supply chain Startup 'Wheelocity' nets 15 million Funding

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Wheelocity announced a $15 million investment round led by Lightspeed, an existing investor, with the company's creator, Alteria Capital, and Anicut Capital also participating.

The business intends to use this capital to diversify beyond fresh produce and groceries and pursue non-food FMCG products, household necessities, staples, and other luxuries.

Additionally, the business will make investments to improve its technology stack so that it can offer its customers more effective and convenient services.

Selvam VMS and Senthil Kumar founded the firm in April 2022 with the goal of resolving supply chain issues for new Indian commerce. It uses a phygital business model to cater to Indian semi-urban and rural customers.

With the help of current investor Lightspeed, Wheelocity, a supply chain network facilitator for new goods, has raised $15 million (INR 126.5 crore) in a Series A2 round of funding. Alteria Capital, Anicut Capital, and Selvam VMS, the company's creator, also participated in the round.

The company intends to diversify into non-food FMCG products, basics, household necessities, and other discretionary items in addition to vital categories like fresh produce and groceries.

With the help of this capital, the firm hopes to reach 10 million customers by expanding to 20,000 cities and villages over the course of the following 12 months. It is presently active in Tamil Nadu and intends to grow into the states of Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh in South India.

In order to offer semi-urban and rural customers more effective and accessible services, Wheelocity will also make investments to improve its technology stack. Technology developments, a direct reach network, and enlarged teams in category management, operations, product, and engineering will all help support this expansion, the company stated in a statement.

Wheelocity has raised $27 million so far. In a Series A fundraising round headed by Lightspeed Venture Partners and including Anicut Capital, the business raised $12 million in 2022. A combination of venture loan and equity was used for the fundraising.

According to Wheelocity's founder and CEO, Selvam VMS, the company's goal is to create a commerce environment tailored to these areas while taking into consideration their particular potential and constraints.

The supply chain firm was established in April 2022 by Selvam VMS and Senthil Kumar with the goal of resolving supply chain issues for new Indian commerce.

The startup changed its business strategy in October 2023 after first launching as a B2B model that worked with e-commerce companies. Building an e-commerce platform for semi-urban and rural areas is the main goal of its current approach.

Selvam VMS, Founder and CEO says, “We reached product-market fit around February-March this year when we were present in just 30 villages. Now, we are present in 3,500 villages and have experienced significant growth. We have scaled up to 100X over the last six months. Our next goal is to expand to 20,000 villages within the next year”.

“This offline presence builds trust with consumers, encouraging them to gradually shift to online purchasing”, he added.