FMCG platform raises Rs 3 cr in pre-series A round

AnKa SumMor, a sales and distribution (S&D) platform for the FMCG sector, has raised Rs 3 crore in a Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures, one of India’s largest angel investment platforms in India. The funds raised will be utilised towards scaling business in Hyderabad and Chennai with improved infrastructure, coverage, and branding. The funds will also be used for expanding operations to Bengaluru, along with technology development and deployment.

On a journey to disrupt FMCG sales and distribution for emerging brands, AnKa SumMor had launched the SumMor Model in 2018, which has added value for brand partners with increased revenue, reduced S&D cost and real time transparent MIS. These features have not only helped the associated businesses grow, but have also triggered the operations of the start-up to a higher level, venturing into Chennai and plans to launch Bengaluru in FY 21-22.

Vinay Bansal, Founder & CEO, IPV said, “Success of FMCG businesses depends on how well and deep their distribution model is. India is a complex geography and it has taken global FMCG companies decades to cover the entire country by heavily investing in setting the distribution infrastructure. The new age brands don’t have to invest millions in setting up their distribution channel, when a company like Anka SuMor can do this for them. A shared distribution network would be mean lower operational costs and better pricing for consumers. We understand this sector well because of our other investments and were able to align naturally to Anka SuMor’s vision.”

AnKa SumMor is the only plug & play sales & distribution platform for challenger and emerging FMCG brands, acting as a one-stop solution for their S&D requirements. The start=up serves all retails of FMCG Distribution under one roof via the ‘SumMor Model’. It acts as the SPOC to serve all retail channels (national chains, e-commerce, local chains, standalone super markets, kirana shops) in a city/ state with transparent & real-time structured data, leading to market insights for the brands, leading up to 50 per cent S&D cost reduction for brands.

It not only offers S&D expertise and technology, but also helps the emerging brands with the intelligence employed by the larger brands. The S&D operations of AnKa SumMor are focused on revenue growth, service consistency, in-outlet executions coupled with 100 per cent transparency for their customers. The entire ecosystem not only provides scale benefits to the organisations at lower S&D costs, but also relieves them from managing multiple distributors and sales teams. It provides real time and transparent S&D MIS and market insights to the brands, while also helping them with value-added services such as trade/consumer activation and new product launches.

Ashok George, Founder & CEO, AnKa SumMor says, “Delighted to make it through IPV’s rigorous evaluation process, importantly the value given to founders during the process. Apart from the investment, IPV augments value through an ecosystem of business leaders across various aspects of business, which we intend to leverage to expand and enhance our thinking, capabilities and execution levels, thereby, creating value for all our stakeholders. This investment will predominantly go into building the tech stack, critical to manage complexity at scale efficiently and effectively, enhance predictive capabilities and provide market insights to brand partners. We will also invest on increasing S&D infrastructure and resources to increase the number of outlets serviced, to deliver growth for existing brand partners, and capacity to add more brands on our platform.”

The FMCG industry is the fourth largest sector in India and is expected to reach $260 billion by the end of 2025, along with emerging brands growing at a pace of two to three times the rate of established brands.

AnKa SumMor has covered quite a few retail channels such as e-comm, modern trade, general trade, select institutions and upcountry distributors. It has covered over 2,600 relevant stores, working with 10 brands so far – McVities, Yoga Bar, Wai Wai, Paper Boat, Yellow Diamond, Bombay Shaving Company, Spice Story, Budweiser, Om Bhakti and Again Drinks.

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