India Angel Network and Unitus Seed Fund Invest in GoCoop

Indian Angel Network, India’s first and Asia’s largest network of angel investors investing in start-ups and early stage ventures, and Unitus Seed Fund, India’s most active seed-stage impact investor, announced today an undisclosed investment in GoCoop Solutions and Services Pvt. Ltd., a Bangalore-based venture that provides a social marketplace for co-operatives and community-based enterprises to list and sell their produce online.

GoCoop offers a platform which includes a directory service, a microsite service with trade enquiries, and an ecommerce service with both branded e-stores and a marketplace. Additionally, GoCoop enables co-ops to collaborate by creating commerce networks to connect with suppliers, complementary coops and wholesale buyers.

 “Globally, co-ops bring together over a billion people in sectors like Agriculture/Food and Crafts and play a key role in addressing the socio-economic needs of their members and the local communities” said Siva Devireddy, Founder and CEO, GoCoop. “There is a strong need to address the issues faced by these cooperative organizations and enable them with better access to market and prices to improve their operations which impact the livelihood of millions of low-income members. We aim to do for co-ops what Alibaba did for manufacturers in China,” he added.

“India has over 6 lakh (600 thousand) co-ops with more than 24 crore (240 million) members. These co-ops are mostly rural entities with limited local reach and are often exploited by middlemen and traders offering low prices and unfair payment terms,” said Will Poole, Managing Partner of Unitus Seed Fund. “We like GoCoop because its technology platform and marketing services provide co-ops in India and around the globe with access to national and international markets, fair and efficient business dealings, and the means to raise the standard of living of millions of low-income producers.”

Padmaja Ruparel, President, Indian Angel Network said, “GoCoop also connects its producers directly with consumer markets. Not only do they provide a collaborative environment for buyers and sellers but they provide marketing and management services to co-ops members who often have had little connection to the fast-evolving ways of the internet. As the second largest employment sector in India, co-operatives are in dire need of the types of services GoCoop offers.”

Nagaraja Prakasam, IAN Angel Investor, who led this round and will be joining the board said "I'm also pleased to see the IAN Angels' overwhelming response to impact investing such as these that's striving to bring in Inclusive Growth. This encourages me to work on more impact deals in the future"