Xpand, a platform of Last Mile Channel Enhancement (LMCE) has raised USD 1.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round, at a valuation of approximately USD 10 million. The company aims to utilize the funds to enhance the in-house tech capabilities and build a trained, tech-savvy, and efficient geo-local sales force.
Prime Securities Limited was the exclusive Investment Banker to this transaction.
The round was led by Mr. Akash Prakash (CEO, Amansa Capital) in his personal capacity along with other highly successful professionals and HNIs, including Mrs. Madhu Jayakumar, Mr. Dipinder Sandhu and Ms. Shagun Khandelwal.
Xpand, a two-month operational startup, was conceived by Sanjay Kaul along with industry veterans Mr. Sanjay Panigrahi, Mr. Sankalp Potbahre , Mr. Pradeep Kaul & Ms. Nidhi Singh. Xpand under LMCE is a B2B aggregator helping brands enhance their rural footprints. The newly incepted app aims to further revolutionize the rural markets across India by leveraging technology and data science, providing innovative solutions that facilitate end-to-end channel operations management.
Mr. Sanjay Kaul, Founder & CEO, LMCE, welcomed the incoming investors and said, “With Xpand, we are connecting retailers and companies on a single platform to solve their last-mile challenges. Simultaneously, we would empower & enable traditional Kiryana to leverage technology to streamline their operations and widen their portfolio. We have already made substantial investment in the pre-incorporation stage towards technology & market prioritization. The raised funds will help us further our goal of “speed to scale” and give thrust to our tech endeavors. We are delighted to have received this support from marquee investors like Mr. Akash Prakash at the early stage.
Mr. Arun Shah, Managing Director, Prime Securities, said, “Government policy initiatives like doubling rural income, jandhan yojana, spending on housing, electrification, sanitation etc. has ensured strategic priority of industry and corporates towards the rural segment. Furthermore, mass digitization and newer aspirations have led to the consumer becoming more knowledgeable and seeking quality products. The LMCE team with over 100 years of cumulative experience in rural marketing is well-positioned to enhance rural aggregation for established brands and engage as a marketing partner with challenger brands. With their technology-driven approach, LMCE would predict consumer behavior and control the rural distribution channel. We are delighted to be associated with LMCE and onboard our HNI investors in the growth journey of the Company."
Mr. Nikhil Kaul, COO, LMCE said, “ Xpand is built on three core fundamentals - ‘where to play, how to play, and digital disruption’ across the value chain - the app analyzes, predicts, and recommends consumer behavior. The process is basis the data collected from 2.5 lakh rural stores to brands, distributors, and local kirana stores. With Xpand we aim to reach to 16 states, 30K villages, and over 3 lakh+ retailers by 2023. It further plans to strengthen its hold in rural India by expanding to at least 18% of kirana stores and scaling up to 33% of the total potential by 2025. “
About Xpand
Xpand is a human-tech B2B aggregator platform that aims to empower retailers, franchises, and companies. Incepted in March 2021, the platform leverages existing infrastructure with zero investment in stock, warehousing, or logistics. Connecting retailers and companies on a single platform, Xpand helps the challenger companies to foray in Rural with cost-effective and surgical manner, simultaneously helping established players to acquire their next million customers, drive incremental sales and increase their market share. Twenty-five leading companies have already partnered with LMCE.