VC-backed B2B marketplace Wydr shuts down

Mobile-based business-to-business (B2B) marketplace Wydr, which counts venture capital firms Stellaris Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners among its investors, has shut shop.

Both Wydr’s mobile website and app could not be accessed.

According to news portal Entrackr, Gurugram-headquartered Wydr had been scaling down operations over the past three months.

It was not immediately clear what led to the shutdown. Entrackr quoted a person it did not name as saying that Wydr had been looking to raise funding. However, B2B marketplace Udaan’s massive fundraise of $225 million earlier this year coupled with its rapid expansion had made it difficult for peers to survive, the person added.

Run by Techwider Network India Pvt. Ltd, Wydr had raised an undisclosed amount from its existing investors in February this year.

In January 2017, Wydr raised an undisclosed sum in its Series A round from Bessemer Venture Partners, Stellaris Venture Partners, Singapore-based Axis Capital and Jungle Ventures.

In October 2015, the company raised an undisclosed amount in an angel investment from entrepreneur and early-stage investor Sandeep Aggarwal, co-founder of online marketplace ShopClues and Droom.

Email queries sent to Wydr and Bessemer did not elicit a response till the time of publishing this report. Stellaris declined to comment while calls made to Sandeep Aggarwal went unanswered.

Wydr used to connect manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. It offered products across fashion, home, automotive and electronics. At the time of its fundraise in February, Wydr claimed that retailers in over 2,000 cities across India had sourced products at wholesale prices directly from manufacturing and trading hubs, including Surat, Jaipur, Agra and New Delhi.

The startup was launched by Devesh Rai,  a founding team member of ShopClues. A graduate of Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta, Rai had previously led the marketing and distribution division at Mail Today newspaper. He also had stints at HT Media, HCL Technologies and Rediffusion.

B2B e-commerce

A recent TechCircle analysis of online B2B marketplaces catering to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) indicated that thin margins, a system dependent on credit and small ticket sizes were niggling problems in the space. 

Some players like Industrybuying were forced to resort to layoffs while others like Tolexo wound up operations altogether.

However, investor interest in the segment remains fairly strong as at least 30 deals worth more than $350 million have been struck this year.

Bengaluru-based Hiveloop Technology Pvt. Ltd, which operates business-to-business e-commerce platform Udaan, hogged the limelight after raising $225 million (Rs 1,593 crore then) in its Series C round of funding in September.

The deal ranked among the largest infusions into an Indian startup still in the relatively early stages of operation.

In August, Bengaluru-based ShopX, a B2B e-commerce platform for small retailers, raised $35 million (Rs 240 crore) in a fresh funding round from Hong Kong-based Fung Holdings.

Power2SME, Bizongo and Moglix are some of the other well-funded players in the space.