LMCE’s startup Xpand has announced that it has secured $ 1.5 million in the latest pre-Series A round. CEO of Amansa Capital – Akash Prakash led the round, in his personal capacity. The round also saw participation from other professionals and HNIs like Madhu Jayakumar, Dipinder Sandhu and Shagun Khandelwal.
Speaking on the announcement, Sanjay Kaul, Founder and CEO, LMCE, commented, “With Xpand, we are connecting retailers and companies on a single platform to solve their last-mile challenges. Simultaneously, we would empower and 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.”
Arun Shah, Managing Director, Prime Securities, added, “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.
Nikhil Kaul, COO at LMCE, further 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 percent of kirana stores and scaling up to 33 percent of the total potential by 2025. “
Arya has been a part of the Content & Research Team at Hrnxt.com. She is a keen observer of economic developments, emerging businesses, people in business and keeps a tab on latest happenings in the business environment.