Crowdfunding for Singapore-based RedMart nears its $5 million goal on AngelList.
The grocer start-up seeks to raise funds as convertible debt during its most current round of funding. RedMart is online marketplace for household essentials with over 5,000 products in stock. The grocer offers competitive prices on this wide range of groceries and household essentials with the convenience of online ordering and home delivery within a specified 2 hour window 7 days a week. Currently, customers who spend more than S$49 per basket also receive free delivery on their first order; returning customers who S$75 spend receive free delivery.
Catherine Shu of Tech Crunch has tapped invaluable information regarding RedMart in her contact with CEO and Co-Founder Roger Egan. Co-Founder and CEO Roger Egan indicated that RedMart’s new funding will be used to build its logistics infrastructure and technology to support the company’s growth. Since RedMart raised its Series A in July 2013, Egan says its revenue has grown 20% to 30% per month. He declined to disclose current financial or user metrics.
Launched in October 2011 and described by Egan as a “tech and logistics company that does grocery retail,” RedMart uses technology to disrupt the traditional grocery retail and deliver a superior customer experience. Seamless fulfillment reigns king for the online grocery retailer, as a typical RedMart order might include 22 to 26 grocery items. Android-based devices enable drivers to manage their routes, contact customers, and record delivery times.
With the simple mission in mind “to save you time and money spent shopping for groceries and household essentials, so you can focus on the important things in life,” RedMart’s three co-founders launched their grocery startup. CEO Roger Egan founded RedMart together with COO Vikram Rupani, who met while they were both studying at INSEAD Singapore’s MBA program. Co-Founder and CTO Rajesh Lingappa was the former Chief Architect at Bubble Motion.
Last November, RedMart announced its completion of three months of seamless operations post the successful implementation of Manhattan SCALE, a warehouse management system developed by Supply Chain Commerce solutions provider, Manhattan Associates. This implementation allows RedMart to accelerate growth while maintaining its high service levels. As reported in The Wall Street Journal:
When asked why RedMart chose to implement a WMS, and in particular, Manhattan’s SCALE product, Vikram Rupani, RedMart’s Co-Founder, COO & CFO said,
“Like many start-ups, RedMart was founded with little resources and a big vision — to disrupt traditional grocery retail by offering customers a better way to shop for their everyday household essentials. Shortly after we launched in October 2011, we realized that our manual fulfillment processes would not allow us to scale the business efficiently. Not only did Manhattan SCALE offer the necessary robustness needed for our business, we were also extremely impressed by the Manhattan implementation team in Singapore whose detailed understanding of our requirements made us confident in their ability to execute flawlessly. We were extremely happy with the outcome as we completed our implementation within budget and right on schedule.” Rupani continued, “Fulfillment capacity increased by over 50 percent in the week immediately following the implementation and we believe we can increase capacity by approximately 15 percent each month for the foreseeable future, without any significant increases in headcount.”
RedMart notes its several well-respected investors and advisors including Forrest Li (CEO of Garena), Toivo Annus (Skype Co-Founder), Jason Ackermann (Co-Founder & CEO), Boon Ling Yee (TESCO China-Former/ Commercial Director), Ashish Chordia (Tribal Technologies/ Board Member & President) and Vinnie Lauria (Golden Gate Ventures/ Founding Partners) on the company website.
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