SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm, has agreed to the acquisition of its incubated venture, Solv India, by Jumbotail, a B2B marketplace.
Jumbotail and Solv India combined together will become a strong, multi-category B2B e-commerce platform that supports the diverse commerce and fintech needs of India’s small retailers (kiranas), as well as micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) entrepreneurs, helping them compete effectively in the modern age. Brands and manufacturers across categories benefit from efficient and scalable access to India’s middle-class consumers via these small retailers.
Established in 2015, Jumbotail operates an e-commerce B2B marketplace for food and grocery. It also provides solutions for kirana entrepreneurs to modernize and digitize their stores. In 2019, SC Ventures incubated Solv India to provide a digital commerce and supply chain finance platform for MSMEs.
The combined entity will be led by S. Karthik Venkateswaran and Ashish Jhina, co-founder of Jumbotail. Gautam Jain will join the board of Jumbotail, representing SC Ventures.
“We believe that millions of India’s kiranas and MSME entrepreneurs should and will play a pivotal role in creating a more efficient, resilient and inclusive economy. Jumbotail’s strength across the entire food and grocery value chain, and Solv India’s differentiated capabilities in apparel, home furnishing, footwear and toys is a unique combination with immense potential,” said Ashish Jhina, Co-Founder and COO of Jumbotail.
“We incubated Solv India under our SMEs & World Trade theme and scaled it to become one of the top players in India’s B2B ecommerce sector. The acquisition of Solv India by Jumbotail will create a significant horizontal multi-category B2B ecommerce platform in India with the potential to transform the lives of hundreds of millions of Indians. This is a great example of why we, at SC Ventures, believe in the transformational power of business model innovation driving financial inclusion and lifting participation of this underserved sector,” said Gautam Jain, Chairman of Board, Solv India and Operating Member, SC Ventures.
