B2B quick commerce startup Fairdeal raises $15 million from Bertelsmann India, others - The Economic Times

Business-to-business (B2B) quick commerce platform Fairdeal.Market has raised a $15 million funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments, with participation from Water Bridge Ventures and Incubate Asia Fund.

Fairdeal claims to deliver over 1,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) to kirana retailers within 60 minutes through a dark store-led supply chain.

The company plans to use the funds to add more dark stores, strengthen its technology and data infrastructure, and expand last-mile delivery capabilities, cofounder Prateek Bansal told ET.

“The biggest problem statement the kirana shop owners face is the fill rate. If the fill rate is lower, they will start facing revenue losses as customers will transact with stores with a better fill rate,” said Bansal. “That’s where the idea came in place to deliver to kirana store owners within 60 minutes.”

Expansion plans

Fairdeal is currently operational in Delhi-NCR with a network of over 20,000 active retailers. It plans to enter Mumbai and Bangalore and scale its retailer network to over 100,000 retailers in the current financial year.

The company is fulfilling 50,000 orders on a monthly basis with an average order value (AOV) of Rs 3,500.

"Fairdeal is building a simple supply and distribution infrastructure that powers the next generation of offline retail in India, where small businesses and emerging brands can grow together with the same speed,” said Yash Bansal, cofounder, Fairdeal.

Commenting on the funding, Rohit Sood, partner, Bertelsmann India Investments, said, “Fairdeal is building a new operating model for wholesale procurement in India. It’s not just about the 60-minute promise. This is the right model for procurement for these kiranas, which have never seen any innovation in the past decades.”

In the fulfillment segment, Fairdeal faces competition from B2B ecommerce company Udaan and B2B marketplace Jumbotail. All three operate in the food and grocery segment, focusing on kiranas and small shops, but have different business models.