Launched in May 2022 by 20-year-old engineering school dropout Pravas Chandragiri, Soptle is a SaaS-led B2B retail micro-platform that helps consumer goods companies distribute products using its network more than 15,000 retailers across the country. It also has around 400 distributors and 60 manufacturers on its platform. Funds raised will be used to expand Soptle’s distribution network across the country, scale product capabilities and grow the team.
“We have a unique distribution approach to build the largest FMCG distribution SaaS platform in India, which enables critical connections between FMCG manufacturers and distributors or between wholesalers and retailers. . It also enables FMCG manufacturers to supply products to millions of retailers across India, creating powerful and positive change for these stakeholders,” Chandragiri said.
According to industry estimates, there is one grocery store for every 100 households in India. Thus, nearly one million kirana stores are potential customers for a retail business model that offers them the opportunity to effectively compete with modern online and offline retail options and grow their businesses profitably.
“We are thrilled to partner with Soptle as they address their vision to create a cutting-edge, lightweight, technology-driven model that enables FMCG manufacturers and retailers to increase revenue. The company has achieved impressive growth of its retailer base in less than a quarter while simultaneously striving to improve the lives of the FMCG manufacturers they partner with.” said Saurabh Agarwal, Partner, Soonicorn LLP.
By digitizing and incentivizing FMCG manufacturers, Soptle has created a single, low-resource platform that eliminates unorganized middlemen from the traditional supply chain. There are approximately 10-15 million kirana stores in India, controlling a $500 billion FMCG market, an opportunity for the platform to create a direct and capital-efficient distribution network for the maker and retail community. using technology.
Chandragiri said he identified product assortment, regional brands, low margins and zero bargaining power as some of the biggest problems for small neighborhood stores, which led him to start working to solve them and to help the kiranas to develop and evolve.
