Growing Digitalisation for Informal retailers in Bangladesh

Like its neighbour, India, more than 95% of all retail in Bangladesh goes through neighborhood stores. There are about 4.5 million mom-and-pop stores in the country and the vast majority of them have no digital presence. ShopUp aims to change that. It has built what it calls a full-stack B2B commerce platform. It provides 3 core services to neighborhood stores: a wholesale marketplace to secure inventory, logistics (including last-mile delivery to customers) and working capital. It has raised $22.5 million in a round co-led by Sequoia Capital India and Flourish Ventures. For both the venture firms, this is the first time they are backing a Bangladeshi startup.