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India's Promising B2B Start-Ups Story Entrepreneur Digs Out Some Of India's Leading B2B Companies That Have Their Apps Spurring Growth.

By Sandeep Soni

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B2B today in India is where B2C was around six years back. However, thanks to the growing B2C in significant strengths, it has also allowed consumers to experiment buying B2B goods online. Hence, B2B start-ups are leveraging the infrastructure built for B2C e-commerce such as logistics and payments. This will facilitate B2B to grow much faster than B2C. In their road to evolution, Entrepreneur digs out some of India's leading B2B companies that have their apps spurring growth.

Sahil Sani who runs Sahil International, the India distributor for connected car technology company, Harman International, last year launched an app-only e-distribution platform, Just Buy Live. Through this app, retailers can connect and buy directly from brands and manufacturers at best price and avail
schemes as well.

"Based on registration details of a merchant, the app recognizes his/ her market and location and shows relevant products and brands. This feature makes the app interface unique," says Sani giving example, "If you are a mobile phone store then you will see products from Apple, Samsung and Micromax etc." Also, if a brand wants its product to be available only in a particular city, then the retailer will see that product in that particular location.

Retailers can also opt for instant credit facility, Udhaar, to avail unsecured loan from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2 crore. The merchants are available across 23 categories including general stores, supermarkets, hardware stores, mobile phone stores, appliance stores etc.

The Employee Empowerer

Software-as-a-solution (SaaS) start-up, Greytip Software, has developed greytHR Employee Portal, which allows employees of both large and small businesses to access information related to their payroll and leaves. Employees can even apply for and cancel their leaves. Through the attendance dashboard, employees can look at the monthly summary of their attendance, which includes their total present days, absent days, leaves, holidays as well as "late-in' and "early-out'.

Employees can also access information related to their payout, income tax etc. apart from company policies. Payslips, provident fund and other details are also available. The app is currently available on Android and iOS. It was last updated on September 24, 2016. The start-up founded by Gireesh Rowjee in Bengaluru, it last raised around $5 million in June 2016 from New Enterprise Associates and Blume Ventures.

The Industrial Supplier

Industrybuying , the online store for industrial supplies, was founded in May 2013 by brother sister duo – Rahul Guptaand Swati Gupta. In September 2016, the start-up launched its franchise partnership program for retailers of industrial products, particularly in Tier II and Tier III cities. According to the startup, it aims "to partner with resellers, who have local presence, resources and the right knowledge to serve small businesses." These resellers get a fixed commission on every product they sell through Industrybuying. Available on Android, buyers can choose from over four lakh products, with free "direct door' delivery, and get it shipped to more than 21,000 pin codes.

The app is easy to navigate and has options to look at detailed product specification, prices and discounts. The buyer can purchase in bulk with additional discount available. Also, it has a callback feature for buyers seeking support while placing orders. Login is also pretty straightforward, using Facebook and Google accounts. It has over 5,000 registered sellers on the app, with and more than 75,000 registered businesses, including small and large businesses. The app was last updated on October 5, 2016. In its most recent funding round, Industrybuying raised $1.8m in debt funding from venture debt provider, Trifecta Capital in January this year.

The Wholesale Marketer

Marketing expert and former founding member of managed marketplace unicorn, ShopClues, launched Wydr – an app-only wholesale shopping platform, which connects manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and retailers. It allows brands or wholesalers to sell directly to shopkeepers, across India from across the country.

Both buyers and sellers can avail services, such as marketing, payment, technology, billing, customer care, and logistics through the marketplace platform. Also, retailers can look for stock keeping units by browsing for a particular product. Wydr also facilitates a chat feature, BizChat, for buyer and seller to negotiate transactions directly.
"The app has been designed keeping in view, how the entire wholesale process works in the offline world. We have multiple selling formats, wherein sellers can sell bases on minimum order quantity (MOQ), fixed lot, odd lot or asking for price. Also, we have SmartLeads feature, where retailer can post queries before buying a particular product, its quantity, time of delivery etc. They can negotiate with the seller to close the deal," says Devesh Rai, Founder and CEO, Wydr – based in Gurgaon. The app was last updated on October 4 2016.

The Retail Paymaster

Mswipe's mobile point-of-sale solution, Wisepad, helps retail merchants accept payments directly from customers. Through Mswipe Merchant app, retailers can access their accounts to check the all previous transactions details done via Mswipe's POS solution. Also, the chargeslips are saved online, and hence retailers don't have to stock them physically. The users can access various support type, including technical issues or transaction related or about service activation, through the app. Among the leading merchants using Mswipe, includes Asian Paints, ApolloMunich, ICICI Securities, Myntra, McDonald's etc. It has partnered with multiple banks, including Axis Bank.

The company wants to increase its customers base to two lakh merchants by this year end and 10 lakh by 2020. Majority of its merchants are from the small business category. It last raised $25m in its Series C funding in July 2015.The app is available across the three platforms, including Android, and iOS.

The E-Commerce DIY Guy

E-commerce enabler, KartRocket, allows businesses to create their own e-commerce store on available in-app templates and then sell across India. Users can upload product's pictures along with their details; list their products to get orders. It also has an automated shipping software called Shiprocket, through which products can be shipped globally at discounted rates.

The app also comes with social media integration, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, for wholesalers to share product details and payment link to suppliers or importers for quick decision making. "Users can even sync their products to the e-commerce websites, like Amazon, Snapdeal, Paytm, Shopclues etc. In terms of accepting payment, KartRocket's seller app also offer free payment gateway integration," says Saahil Goel, Co-founder and CEO, KartRocket. In addition, the app
offers local search presence in Google.
The app on Android was last updated on September 6, 2016 and is also present on iOS. New Delhi-based KartRocket raised $2 million in March this year in its latest funding round, two months
after it raised $6 million led by Bertelsmann India Investments.

The Mobile App Master

Mumbai-based mobile app development and offline mobile apps distribution company (which distributes through more than 10,000 retail outlets across India), AppsDaily, offers apps related to anti-virus, SOS, mobile insurance and privacy, backup service etc. The apps are retailed under the brand name "Daily', including Daily Assure, Daily Protect, Daily Complete Security, and Daily Cop. The AppsDaily Partner app offers its channel partners to track their sales activity, ad points, transaction details for days, weeks and months, and available schemes.
The app is available only on Android and was last updated on September 15, 2016. Founded in 2009 by Arun Menon and Ajay Menon, the company last raised $3.75 million in funding in October 2016. Currently, it has more than two million customers.

The Small Business Enabler

The nonbanking financial company, Capital First, offering debt financing to MSMEs and consumers was founded in 2012 in Mumbai. Through its app, businesses can apply for loans related to "business expansion, plant and machinery, office furniture, display panels, office automation like PCs, laptops and printers," as per the company. Also user can locate a store of Capital
First through the app, along with its contact details, work timings and customer support from the app.
The loan assets of the company stand at $2.4 billion as on March 31, 2016. The company raised Rs 178 crore in its last funding in March 2014. The app is available only on Android and was last updated on May 17, 2016.

Sandeep Soni

Former Features Editor

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