Rural commerce tech platform VilCart raises $18 mn in funding winter

BENGALURU: Rural commerce tech platform VilCart on Saturday said it has raised $18 million in a Series A funding round led by Asia Impact SA, amid the deepening funding winter.

With the new investment, VilCart aims to expand its operations to the entire South India by 2024.

Nabventures Fund and Texterity Private Limited also participated in the round.

"VilCart aims to bridge the gap between rural consumers and to the manufacturers/primary market by building a strong network. With the new investment, we aim to scale our operations to the entire South India," said Prasanna Kumar, Founder, VilCart.

VilCart was established in 2018 by Kumar and Amith S Mali.

The startup began with one Karnataka district and has since swiftly grown. Currently, VilCart has reached 85,000 kirana stores in 30,000 villages, covering 29 districts in Karnataka and one in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, respectively.

VilCart expanded its size by 2.6X to $25 million in FY22, up from $9.6 million in FY21.

"We are keen on joining VilCart as it represents an important milestone for Asia Impact SA, that allows us to further progress towards achieving our vision to improve rural businesses and the quality of life in rural households in India," said Christian Banno, Asia Impact SA.