Manila, Philippines – GrowSari, the local B2B e-commerce platform that serves sari-sari stores or local mom-and-pop stores in the Philippines, has raised US$77.5m as part of its Series C funding, bringing its total funding to around US$110m. This newly secured fund will be used in accelerating GrowSari’s national expansion.
According to Growsari, from a base of 1,000 sari-sari stores in three cities back in 2018, the platform has grown to service more than 100,000 stores in over 220 municipalities across Luzon. In addition, it has expanded rapidly and further into other MSMEs/non-sari-sari store formats nationwide over the last 12 months.
Reymund ‘ER’ Rollan, GrowSari’s CEO and co-founder, believes that not only will this funding allow them to fuel their growth, but this will also help them bring top global quality talent in operations, technology, and data science into the startup ecosystem of the Philippines.
“We are strategic in choosing investors, and we have deepened our partnership with those who can support this next phase of growth, on the core as well as financial services. We remain open to partnering with all other local and international companies as we transform this MSME space,” said Rollan.
Meanwhile, Siddhartha Kongara, GrowSari’s CTO and co-founder, shared that they have already launched in the Visayas, with Iloilo as the first city, and will launch in Mindanao soon, and they also have the largest B2B fulfilment network and will have 50-plus fulfilment centres nationwide.
“We are also fast progressing on our vision to use the GrowSari technology stack to help other companies in their logistics and e-commerce journeys. We already have more than 10 traditional companies that are leveraging the platforms to improve their business operations,” said Kongara.
This round’s funding was joined by investors International Finance Corporation (IFC), KKR, which led the Series C round, and Pavilion Capital of the Temasek Group, along with almost all existing investors. GrowSari is also in talks for the next round of funding, as there is a significant demand from marquee funds.
Stephanie von Friedeburg, IFC’s senior vice president of operations, said, “Our investment will enable Growsari to expand digital adoption and financial services for MSMEs, which is critical to keep them competitive, and for a resilient and inclusive recovery.”
