GrowSari, a Philippine-based B2B e-commerce platform, has announced securing investment worth $5 million from Oppenheimer Generations Asia (OGA), a unit of global family office Oppenheimer Generations.
The fresh investment sees OGA joining GrowSari in its continued mission to serve the sari-sari stores in the Philippines, according to the announcement.
“We are excited to partner with the Oppenheimer team. They bring a shared vision of tech-based enablement of micro-entrepreneurs and of the bright future of the Philippines, while bringing a new perspective from their experience in other emerging markets,” said Shiv Choudhury, co-founder of GrowSari.
Founded in 2016 by Choudhury, Reymund Rollan, Andrzej Ogonowski, and Siddhartha Kongara, Growsari provides a digital retail distribution platform connecting informal SME retailers to FMCG manufacturers and wholesalers.
It operates three business lines – B2B E-commerce (SariMart), MSME Financial Services (SariPay), and Last Mile Logistics (Tranko). The startup is backed by Chinese internet giant Tencent and global private equity major KKR.
In 2022, GrowSari announced raising $77.5 million in its Series C funding round, led by KKR, which invested $45 million, and backed by the International Finance Corporation, and Pavilion Capital of Singapore’s Temasek Group.
In June 2021, GrowSari said it had raised over $30 million in two rounds of funding. Its existing investors include Robinson Retail Holdings, JG Digital Equity Ventures, and Wavemaker Partners.
Since its last round of funding in 2022, the company said it has grown 2x in revenue, and is now near profitability. Growsari is now also the largest women entrepreneur platform in the region, serving stores in over 400 municipalities.
OGA, the latest investor in GrowSari, was established with the objectives of increasing investment exposure and deepening relationships across the region.
By having a permanent presence in Singapore, the Asia office is a platform for boosting synergies and catalysing investments between Africa, its home market, and Southeast Asia.
Its head company, Oppenheimer Generations, is the family office of former De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer.