Groyyo Raises `90 Cr In First Close Of Series B Round Led By Cornerstone Ventures

[00:00:00]And moving on the global fashion industry's under pressure to deliver faster, cut costs, and build more resilient supply chains, but much of the apparel manufacturing ecosystem still runs on fragmented manual processes. One Indian startup believes artificial intelligence can change that. Growio has raised 90 crore rupees in a Series B funding round to expand its AI-driven platform that connects global brands with manufacturers while helping digitize the entire design to delivery process. Joining us now are the co-founder of Growio, Subin Mitra, and Vatsal Bavishi, partner at Cornerstone Ventures. Gentlemen, thank you so much for taking time out and being here with us on Startup Street. You know, Subin, let me start with you, right? You've raised this 90 crore rupees in the first close of your 200 crore rupees Series B round. What sort of convinced investors like Cornerstone to sort of back Growio at this stage, and where will this capital sort of create the biggest impact of the next 12 to 18 months? Take us through how you plan to spend these funds.

[00:00:58]>> Uh first of all, thank you for having us. And I'm happy and I'm sure Vatsal can add a bit to that. But, um I think largely in two three areas, right? I think over the last couple of years, uh the team has worked very hard to have a lot of the largest brands in the ecosystem as partners to us, especially across the UK, the European Union, and the US, right? Um in a nutshell, fast fashion is getting faster, and what that means is the supply chain needs to be even more tech-enabled, even more agile, and a lot more competitive, right?

[00:01:25]Um so, that is going to be the first and foremost mandate for us. That how can we support our existing customers better?

[00:01:31]How can we go deeper with them? And how can we enable more and more of the SMEs we work with in India to take their business global, right? An aspect of that is also going to be on the tech stack, right? So, technology has started playing an even more important role for the fashion industry. Um we have built two tools, one on the factory side, which we use to digitize supply operations, and second, where we leverage AI to curate designs for brands in real time. Um so, going deeper in that and making those tools more robust so that we can this otherwise opaque supply chain a little faster. These will be the two large focus areas.

[00:02:06]>> Absolutely. And you know, you've guided for a revenue run rate of 500 crore rupees in FY26 and you're targeting over 3,000 crore rupees within the next 3 years, right? What gives you that confidence to sort of scale sixfold and what are the biggest execution risks that you face?

[00:02:20]>> Um so, FY26 isn't actual now.

[00:02:23]I think what gives us that comfort what is adding to my point that a lot of these customers are already procuring north of 1,000 crores from India, right? They are actively looking for a solution which is not only fast, nimble, and agile, but also brings in an element of tech.

[00:02:40]Um we've gone after the more tail end of supply, which is difficult to work with, which is difficult to control, and we've built that supply chain capability. And having that supply chain with this cohort of customers gives us the confidence that we can get to that kind of a projection in the next 2-3 years.

[00:02:57]>> Absolutely. Um Vatsal, let me bring you into the conversation. You've led Groww your Series B at a time when when venture funding remains pretty selective, right? What sort of gave you the conviction to back the company and what differentiated it from other B2B commerce and manufacturing tech startups?

[00:03:12]>> So, thanks. Thanks for having me, first of all.

[00:03:15]This was a classic recipe in terms of investable business that it has a massive scale opportunity.

[00:03:24]There is a significant fragmentation in the supply side of this value chain, and it's a business that can really be streamlined using technology and a tech-enabled platform. And we see Prateek and Subin and the team really having that execution prowess to be able to scale a business like this. So, that gave us the confidence that yes, there is a massive opportunity that can really be solved using technology and the team that brings the right kind of execution capability to bring all of this together.

[00:04:00]And that's how we ended up investing in GroYo. The The key differentiator we see in this company vis-a-vis a lot of other competitors is the way they have executed on the entire plan.

[00:04:15]You know, going after the right kind of customers, uh not compromising on margins at any point in time, uh trying to solve a problem with technology first and then kind of putting more people behind it. And uh at at any point in time, you know, keeping uh keeping their business first. Uh so, those are things that really have helped them scale to this level in a in a very short span of time. And we've seen them even with scale, they haven't really, you know, lot lost sight of the business.

[00:04:49]>> Sure. Absolutely. And Subin, you know, you now work with over 470 manufacturers across 10 countries and 45 global brands, right? As you sort of scale further to achieve all your targets, how do you sort of ensure quality, compliance, and on-time delivery across such a large supplier network?

[00:05:08]>> All three of these are critical factors in our business. Um which is why I think for all three of these we've had to go in-house and build in-house capabilities, right?

[00:05:16]Capabilities both from a team point of view, so all of these are in-house teams for us, processes, and even internal tech tools which help us monitor quality, um monitor on-time shipment rates in real time, and give that visibility to our customers as well because we understand this is sacrosanct. Um when a customer when a very large global customer is trusting us, it is critical not just for us, but also Indian manufacturing as a whole that we don't falter. Um and that's an area we have spent a lot of bandwidth on over the last 5 years.

[00:05:44]>> Absolutely. And you know, what's our GroYo is positioning itself as an AI-powered operating system for fashion manufacturing rather than just a sourcing marketplace, right? How important was that technology mode in your investment decision and where do you sort of see AI creating the biggest value in industrial supply chains?

[00:06:02]>> Uh so, we don't see AI as a full mode as such, but we more look at it more as an enabler in this business and someone who can really leverage AI to improve efficiency, to bring in more design strengths, uh you know, tie all of that in together. There is a bit of AI that we're also using uh at at the factories to streamline their operations, to bring in more visibility, quality control, etc. So, tying all of this together to create a seamless workflow is something that actually brings in mode, not a single pinpoint solution. And that is where Groio has really been able to build this kind of uh technology.

[00:06:46]Uh it needed a lot of data to be also to be able to, you know, bring AI up to a level where it can meaningfully add value.

[00:06:54]So, we've seen some of these things working. There's a lot of things that is still work in progress, but there is a plan. There is We have confidence that this is something that the team will definitely execute on.

[00:07:06]And this is really what will enable uh unlocking a lot of inefficiencies in the entire value chain and create value for all the stakeholders in the ecosystem.

[00:07:17]>> Absolutely. And Subin, if you could quickly tell us in 30 seconds, like fashion supply chains are notoriously fragmented, right? Beyond being a sourcing marketplace, what is Groio's mode? Why would a global brand or manufacturer find it difficult to sort of switch away from your platform?

[00:07:31]>> So, for a global manufacturer today, the mandate is not just to procure in 30 days or to procure 500 pieces in SKU. The mandate is to also ensure that that supply chain is sustainable, that they have visibility on that supply chain, and it is as foolproof as possible, right? Um for the for the brand, we become not just an AI-first tech solution, but a multi-country, multi-category one-stop shop, where we manage everything from design to delivery. And they just tell us that we need this product, we need it at this price, we need it delivered in London at this date, right? Then and the entire back end is managed by Growio, and they get a 100% visibility on that supply chain. That experience is very difficult to replicate for any customer, um whether if they work with any other offline player. And that I think is what really makes them stick with us and grow their business with us.

[00:08:20]>> Absolutely. All right, Vatsal and Subin, thank you so much for taking time out and being here with us on Startup Street today.

[00:08:26]>> Thank you so much, Andrea.

[00:08:28]>> Thank you.