KKR invests $45M into GrowSari, a B2B platform for Filipino MSMEs – TechCrunch

A sari-sari retailer proprietor who makes use of GrowSari

GrowSari, the Manila-based startup that helps small retailers develop and digitize, introduced as we speak that KKR will lead its Collection C spherical with a $45 million funding. The funds shall be used to enter new areas within the Philippines and broaden its monetary merchandise. The Collection C spherical continues to be ongoing and the startup says it’s already oversubscribed, with the ultimate composition presently being finalized. 

Earlier than its Collection C, GrowSari’s complete raised was $30 million. TechCrunch final wrote about GrowSari in June 2021, when it introduced its Collection B. Since then, it has expanded the variety of municipalities it serves from 100 to 220, and now has a buyer base of 100,000 micro, small and mid-sized enterprise (MSME) retailer house owners. 

Based in 2016, GrowSari is a B2B platform that provides virtually each type of service that small- to medium-sized retailers, together with neighborhood shops that carry each day requirements (referred to as sari-saris), roadside and market retailers and pharmacies, want.

For instance, it has a wholesale market with merchandise from main fast-moving client items (FMCG) manufacturers like Unilever, P&G and Nestle. It companions with over 200 suppliers, like telecoms, fintechs and subscription plans, so sari-saris can provide companies like top-ups and invoice funds to their prospects. 

Sari-sari operators may use GrowSari to launch e-commerce shops and entry short-term working capital loans to purchase stock. The startup’s different monetary merchandise embrace digital wallets and cash-in companies, and it’s including remittance, insurance coverage and loans in partnership with different suppliers. 

The brand new funding shall be used to broaden into the Visayas and Mindanao, the 2 different principal geographical areas within the Philippines, with the purpose of protecting all 1.1 million “mother and pop” shops within the Philippines.