Vilcart raises $18 million in series A funding round led by Asia Impact SA

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Jan 16, 2023

Vilcart, a rural economy-focused e-commerce platform has raised $18 million (Rs 144 crore) in a series A funding round led by Asia Impact SA. Nabventures Fund and Texterity Pvt Ltd also participated in the funding round.

The company will utilise the funds to expand its presence across South India over the next two years.
Currently, Vilcart claims to have 85,000 kirana stores in 30,000 villages, covering 29 districts in Karnataka and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Commenting on the funding, Prasanna Kumar, founder of Vilcart in a statement said, “Strengthening the rural ecosystem is the need of the hour. Vilcart aims to bridge the gap between rural consumers and the manufacturers/primary market by building a strong network. With the new investment, we aim to scale our operations to the entire South India.”

Christian Banno, Asia Impact SA added , “Vilcart focuses on supporting and strengthening the rural ecosystem, and the emphasis on technology makes Vilcart the right partner for Asia Impact SA and gives us confidence they will continue to contribute to the growth of rural India.”

Launched in 2018 by Prasanna Kumar and Amith S Mali, Vilcart acts as the sourcing, logistics, technology, marketing, and branding partner of rural kirana stores, VilCart offers a local language mobile app for rural kirana stores and consumers.