Social commerce startup Frendy raises Rs 23 crore in funding led by Marv Capital

Ahmedabad-based Frendy, a community group-buying platform, today announced the closure of its Series A round after raising Rs 23 crore (about $3 million) from Marv Capital and UK-based Centera Fund, with participation from existing investor Desai Family Office and new investors via LetsVenture Angel Fund.

The latest fundraise was also led by prominent angel investors, including Shalabh Mehrish (Vinson Cap Advisors); Jon Piebenga (Social Venture Partners); Kunal Shah (Cred).

Sameer Gandotra and Gowrav Vishwakarma co-founded Frendy in 2019. Frendy says it is building a “digital supermarket” with neighborhood homepreneurs in Bharat. Since its inception, the startup has successfully expanded its operations in more than 25 tier 2-6 towns with over 4,500+ products.

Currently, it has a team of 100 professionals including its in-house technology team. With this round of funding, Frendy plans to continue its focus on growth, team expansion, and meeting its working capital needs. It recently forayed into Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Frendy claims to have a revenue of Rs 43 crore in its first year of operations with break-even unit economics. Additionally, the startup said it is on track to reach an annualized revenue run rate of Rs 300 crore by the end of the financial year.

Frendy recently appointed a slew of experienced industry veterans, including Harshad Joshi as chief operating officer (COO), and Shilpa Ajwani, former managing director of Tupperware India, as a consulting advisor. It has also hired several mid-career professionals from retail, supply chain and direct sales.

Speaking about its homepreneur model, Gowrav Vishwakarma, Co-Founder Frendy stated, “We understand how to make a micropreneur business successful. A Partners’ monthly income is our North Star Metric. A stable monthly income assures higher retention of Partners which in turn ensures Customer retention & overall sustainability of the model. We have disbursed over ₹2 Crores to our active microentrepreneur community and the average income our Frendy Partner earns is several times higher than what is typically seen in other reseller/micropreneur platforms”.

Frendy has an asset-light franchised local distributor model that serves it well in Tier 3-6 markets. “Entrepreneurial frugality coupled with local knowledge & relationships has been the hallmarks of successful rural distribution businesses and Frendy has adopted the same to scale quickly & sustainably with a low capital requirement," he adds.

Also Read:

• Teamonk raises Rs 3.5 crore in a pre-Series A round

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