Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy bets on B2B space with Moglix

Less than three months after B2B e-commerce company Moglix raised $23 million in its Series C funding round, it has welcomed yet another marquee investor on board - Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy.

Founded in April 2015 by ex-Googler Rahul Garg, the Ratan Tata-backed firm specialises in industrial products, including MRO, fasteners, electrical, hardware and pneumatics, and is growing at a rate of 400% year-on-year. In fact, it was named the fastest growing technology company in India by Deloitte last year.

The Noida-based company announced on Monday that it has received investment of a yet undisclosed amount from Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy in his personal capacity, The Hindu Business Line reported.

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"Moglix, under Rahul's leadership, has charted impressive growth in the B2B commerce space and is creating meaningful impact on the manufacturing industry through innovative use of technology. It is gratifying to be able to support this home-grown industrial B2B leader at this important juncture," Krishnamurthy said in a statement. This is his first individual backing of a company in the B2B e-commerce space.

The last funding round, led by existing investors Accel Partners, Jungle Ventures and International Finance Corporation (IFC), had taken the total amount of funds raised by Moglix to $41 million. The funds were reportedly used to strengthen its B2B distribution network and supply chain across India as well as expand into new market segments. The round also saw participation from Venture Highway, Shailesh Rao, former VP-Twitter, and InnoVen Capital.

At present, Moglix has a strong team of over 450 people and operates across 12 centres in the country, catering to both institutional customers (B2B) and individual customers (B2C) in the manufacturing sector. It currently focusses on the automotive, metals, mining, and fast-moving consumer durables (FMCD) markets.

"It's great to have Kalyan back us as an investor and join an illustrious list of global investors who have believed in Moglix's potential," said Garg. "Kalyan has played an important role in shaping e-commerce in India and his experience in scaling businesses will serve as a guiding light for us as we execute on our vision to transform B2B commerce and the Indian manufacturing sector using technology and innovation."

According to Moglix, India's B2B e-commerce market is expected to expand significantly over the coming decade. "Research suggests it will likely assume a size that will be double the estimated $200 billion market of B2C e-commerce by 2026," it said in a statement, adding that technological disruptions would remain key since the majority of the market is still in the unorganised space.

With PTI inputs

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