GrowSari secures funding from leading global investment firm KKR in ongoing Series C funding
Philippine startup GrowSari secures $45 million from leading global investment firm KKR, which led its ongoing Series C funding round.
“We are pleased to invest in GrowSari, an innovative company with tremendous potential to digitally transform the operations of Filipino MSMEs, who are crucial contributors to the country’s economy and a pillar of the business community. We are excited to support the GrowSari team to achieve their expansion ambitions,” said Ashish Shastry, Co-Head of Asia Pacific Private Equity and Head of Southeast Asia at KKR.
The investment in the startup will support GrowSari’s plans to expand throughout the Philippines and strengthen its financial products and services.
“We will be accelerating our presence nationally to more municipalities and cities in the Philippines. Our investments will be focused towards expanding in Visayas and Mindanao this 2022. This will bring us a step closer to our mission of creating a positive socio-economic impact to the lives of more MSME owners and the communities they serve,” explained Reymund ‘ER’ Rollan, CEO and Co-Founder of GrowSari. He added, “We are doubling down on our capabilities to improve the overall customer experience and look to expand our ability to provide sari-sari stores access to credit and basic financial services, which is a key pain point for MSMEs who have limited access. The industry, operational and financial expertise and network of KKR will be a great complement to the passion, dedication and strong culture of excellence that GrowSari has built over the years.”
Before the said funding round, GrowSari raised $30 million from prominent investors, including Temasek Holdings’ private equity unit Pavilion Capital, Tencent, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), ICCP SBI Venture Partners, Wavemaker Partners, and Saison Capital, as well as the Gokongwei Group’s Robinsons Retail Holdings and JG Digital Equity Ventures.
Founded in 2016, GrowSari is a tech-enabled B2B platform that services and supports small- to medium-sized retailers in the Philippines, including sari-sari stores, roadside and market shops like carinderias, and pharmacies.
Dedicated to helping store owners enhance their businesses and access a broader range of products and value-adding, GrowSari offers a more accessible and affordable way to procure retail goods and replenish inventories, working capital loans, data and insights generation, telco reloads, bill payments, and e-wallet top-ups and cash-in services, among others.
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