usiness-to-business (B2B) networking platform Anar on Wednesday announced that it has raised $6.2 million in Seed funding co-led by Elevation Capital and Accel India. This round also saw participation from First Cheque and Utsav Somani (iSeed and Partner, AngelList India), along with engineering and product-centric founders, including Ranjeet Pratap Singh (Pratilipi), Farid Ahsan (ShareChat), Vidit Aatrey, and Sanjeev Barnwal (Meesho), and Shashvat Nakrani (BharatPe).
The company will use the funds raised to strengthen the product and the technology capabilities.
"For all these years, small and medium business (SMB) owners are used to getting business through their relationships and networks. With Anar, we want to enable owners to focus on something they are good at, i.e., building their network to grow their business. Anar is a 0-to-1 solution in this space with no other global peers, and we are humbled by our investors' belief in our team and our vision. These funds will help us deliver a world-class product for SMBs," said Nishank Jain, co-founder and chief executive officer, Anar.
Launched In February 2020 by IIM Lucknow alumni Nishank Jain and Sanjay Bhat, the Anar business app caters primarily to SMBs across the value chain, from manufacturers to retailers and resellers, helping them connect and interact with one another. Nishank and Sanjay’s vision is to build Anar as the go-to B2B networking platform for SMBs across India, enabling over 70 million businesses to get access to a vast network, create their digital identity, and find a place to stay updated with industry trends.
"We are looking for smart people who are excited about making an impact on hundreds of millions of lives. We want to hire the best engineers and product leaders who will embrace our user-first product mindset as we solve the most pressing problems for SMBs. We are in the early stages and have a strong product roadmap and need candidates who can think on first principles to deliver against our strategy. Our long-term objective is to make the best engineering and product team in the world," commented Sanjay Bhat, co-founder, and chief technology officer, Anar.
In a short span of time, the platform has gained over two lakh registered businesses on the platform.
“Anar is building the new business social network for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India. A more collaborative way of doing business, and something that hasn't existed in India before. We are very happy to partner with Anar's enterprising team,” noted Prayank Swaroop, partner, Accel India.
On the Anar business app, all retailers, resellers, wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers can create their own profiles, upload their catalogs, create posts, form connections, post requirements, and interact with one another.
“We’ve long believed in the power of networking to empower and turbo-charge businesses, but observed a gap in the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) domain which is constrained by legacy relationships. Anar is taking a unique discovery-first approach to B2B relations (and commerce) and making it truly seamless for small businesses to create their digital presence and forge connections. We are really excited to partner with Nishank and Sanjay in this journey to create a category-defining business,” added Amit Aggarwal, vice president, Elevation Capital.
