Dealflow | May 13, 2019

Peel-Works raises $5 million to give India shops a tech upgrade

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, May 13 – Amid India’s skyrocketing e-commerce market and popularity of on-demand food delivery, Mumbai-based Peel-Works is trying to help the millions of small corner shop owners “stay relevant for the new-age retail consumer.”

Peel-Works makes software that helps India’s small corner shops, called kiranas, manage inventory and analyze purchasing data to better understand what customers want. It also offers a delivery service to help owners keep popular items in stock, and connects shop owners to potential lenders, improving their access to finance.

Its products and services are similar to Frogtek, which provides analytics software for mom and pop shops in Latin America.

Peel-Works’ system, called Taikee, is being used by about 20,000 shop owners in 16 cities, Inc42 reports.

The company’s $5 million Series B round was backed by Equanimity Investments, HDFC Bank, Unilever Ventures, Chiratae Ventures and Inventus Capital India. The funding will support development of its software and geographic expansion.