Shukla says Series B funding to scale business and aim for IPO
Dubai-based Gulf Islamic Investments (GII) has invested Rs.500 million in 1-India Family Mart’s Series B funding to boost the expansion plan of the group with doubling of retail stores in the next two years, through organic expansion and consolidation. The leading value retail chain has 100+ stores across India.
“This fund raise is quite sizeable for the retail sector in recent times. As we build a scalable business, we needed like-minded investors that could guide us on nurturing an IPO-able group for the near future,” 1-India Family Mart Co-Founder and CEO Jay Prakash Shukla said on 25 Feb 2022.
“We are excited to raise a fresh funding round from GII which will significantly boost our expansion plans, strengthen our retail presence and drive growth trajectory of the group.”
The Indian retail sector was valued at Rs.51 trillion in 2019, growing at a CAGR of 9-11%.
The fund raise will boost the expansion plan of the group with doubling of retail stores in the next two years, through organic expansion and consolidation. The group will also be launching its distributed e-commerce operations to become an omni-channel player.
The New Delhi-based 1-India Family Mart is well placed in the value retail sector in India and is amongst the Top 3 Value Retail companies in the Indian retail space.
The group has a strong assortment of products and extensive presence in tier 2, 3 & 4 cities with over 100 stores pan India. Besides the private label products offered at stores, the group has a strong back-end infrastructure including distribution centres.
The Group commenced operations in 2013 and established its first store in Uttar Pradesh and thereafter expanded its operations to Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and the Northeast. It offers fashion apparel, lifestyle products and general merchandise through its more than 100 outlets.
“We are increasing our geographical footprint and developing our own private label in the fast-growing women’s apparel category. We are setting up our owned online omni-channel to further penetrate the market and reach our discerning customers,” added Ravinder Singh, Co-Founder & COO, 1-India Family Mart.
“Moreover, having a strong online presence will further consolidate our position in the industry.”
“1-India Family Mart is working towards reimagining the retail sector and creating newness and excitement for the dynamic customer segment,” added Pankaj Gupta and Mohammed Alhassan, Co-founders and Co-CEOs of Gulf Islamic Investments LLC.
“The 1-India Family Mart founders have more than 2 decades of rich experience in the retail industry and they have seen the entire retail cycle. We love the group’s focus on value retail and their ability to reach and cater to the Indian semi-urban areas. The group is on path to expand its footprint in new towns and semi-urban areas which resonates with India’s growth story coming from tier-2 and tier 3 cities.”
An increase in the market share of value e-retailers has demonstrated better profitability and value creation within the Indian retail landscape. Value retail constitutes 60% of the overall apparel retail market. Growth in value retail is primarily driven by organised value retail.
With the rural per capita consumption growing at 4.3x by 2030, compared to 3.5x the urban area, trend shows that companies are also pivoting towards the bottom of the pyramid with a leaner cost structure. Value retail is also mostly insulated to online distribution as opposed to high-cost structures. fiinews.com
