IGP.com – Gifting Solutions Startup Join Ventures Bags $23.5 Mn Funding
Join Ventures, led by Tarun Joshi, owns and manages a portfolio of digital-first brands that offer handcrafted, curated, and personalised goods in the fresh food, home, and fashion categories. It houses brands in the reward administration and gifting industries.
IGP.com, India’s largest D2C platform for occasions, Interflora India, India’s largest D2C brand for premium flowers, IGPforBusiness, a leading B2B2C partner for reward management and corporate gifting, and Masqa, which aims to become India’s leading D2C brand for indulgent foods, are just a few of Join Ventures’ growing portfolio of brands. With its farm-to-table supply chain, growing same-day delivery distribution network of more than 100 cities, and design-to-delivery consumer experience, Join Ventures serves more than 100 million visits annually across 100 countries.
As part of its Series B funding round, Join Ventures, the house of D2C celebration brands, has raised $23.5 million (INR 187 crore) (MO Alts).
Convivialité Venture, the venture capital arm of the major French beverage company Pernod Ricard, joined existing investors such as DSG Consumer Partners, Venture Catalysts, ZNL Growth, and other high-net-worth investors in the round.
With the money, the business will build its network of dark stores, which will help its portfolio companies grow. Join Ventures will also use the funding to launch new products and product groups over the next 18 months. The funds will also be utilised to develop the country’s technological industry so that it can support hyper-personalization across a variety of platforms.
“Such a vast market size is driven by evolving Indian consumers who are looking beyond generic products and moving towards personalised, unique and theme-based products, and we believe that our curated & personalised design-to-delivery consumer experience fulfils their evolving needs. Partnering with MO Alts will help accelerate our expansion plans across India and beyond,” stated Join Ventures founder and CEO Tarun Joshi.
Vijay Dhanuka, the head of MO Alts’ consumer sector, added his remarks to this: “As the country increasingly moves online, we believe digital channels will be a strong enabler for consumer businesses to scale at a rapid pace. Our investment in Join Ventures marks our second investment into the tech-enabled consumer franchisees who have the first mover advantage in large unorganised categories.”
Joshi founded Join Venture in 2020, which runs a network of brands in the floral and gift industries. Its brand portfolio includes names including B2C and B2B gift retailer IGP.com, D2C floral brand Interflora, and future gourmet food brand Masqa.
The Mumbai-based business raised $10 Mn in its Series A round from DSG Consumer Partners, Rajiv Dadlani Group, 9Unicorns, and Venture Catalysts just seven months prior to the announcement of the fresh funding.
In the last two years, Join Ventures claims to have tripled the size of its business intending to reach an annualised run rate (ARR) of INR 250 Cr. Through its same-day delivery network, the umbrella brand today serves customers in more than 100 countries.
The firm, which runs three warehouses and more than 40 dark storefronts, claims to have a collective annual digital reach of 100 million visitors. A total of almost 3 million users currently use all of Join Ventures’ services.
Archies’, Ferns n Petals, and other significant market participants are in competition with Join Ventures. Interestingly, Join Ventures’ main rival Ferns n Petals also secured a sizable INR 200 Cr fundraising round from VC powerhouse Lighthouse in March of this year. India’s online gifting business was estimated to be worth $65 million in early 2021 and is projected to grow to $84 million in 2024, according to a report.
The middle class’s increased discretionary income has been a major driver of the unexpected increase in demand for gifting platforms in recent years. The availability of personalised gifts with ease and the country’s growing gifting culture have both served to increase demand.
