Business
Amazon acquires retail tech startup Perpule to expand its presence among small retailers
In a bid to deepen Amazon’s footprint amongst small retailers, e-commerce giant Amazon has acquired Perpule, a four-year-old tech startup that is helping offline stores go online. A regulatory filing by Perpule with the Reserve Bank of India showed the e-retail giant has acquired it in an all-cash deal worth Rs 107.6 crore or $14.7 million. The company is likely to spend an additional amount to compensate Perpule’s employees, which will take the deal value to about Rs 150 crore.
The latest acquisition will allow Amazon to offer Perpule’s ‘UltraPoS’ Point-of-Sale device and other new technology products to its kirana partners. The Bengaluru-based startup offers a mobile payments device (point of sale machine) to offline retailers to help them accept digital payments and also establish presence on various mini app stores including those run by Paytm, PhonePe and Google Pay in India.
Amazon’s payment arm Amazon Pay had launched a ‘Smart Stores’ feature in June 2020 that allows customers to scan the store’s QR code using the Amazon app to begin exploring the products available within the store. It has been developed to increase footfalls and drive sales for retailers. Retailers have been using the feature to enable digital storefront instantly. With Perpule’s support, e-commerce player would power and drive the adoption of Smart Stores with its PoS solution.
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The acquisition will allow early investors in Perpule to exit with 4-5 times returns, according to a report by The Mint, which accessed the regulatory filings filed by the start-up with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), said. In November 2018, Perpule had raised $4.7 million in Series A funding from from Prime Venture Partners, Kalaari Capital, Venture Highway and Taxiforsure co-founder Raghunandan G.
“Perpule has built an innovative cloud-based POS offering that enables offline stores in India to better manage their inventory, checkout process and overall customer experience,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.
“We are excited to have the Perpule team join us to focus on providing growth opportunities for businesses of all sizes in India while raising the bar of the shopping experience for Indian customers.”
