ElasticRun's kirana-commerce bet: SoftBank unicorn at $1.5B, FY25 loss cut 60%

A B2B commerce and logistics platform: ElasticRun procures FMCG goods, routes them through crowdsourced delivery partners, and sells to mom-and-pop kirana stores across rural and semi-urban India.

A crowdsourced, asset-light platform can be FMCG's extended arm into India's 12M kirana stores - and trade, credit and data on that network can monetize it.

Over $430M raised, including a $330M Series E led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Goldman Sachs at about $1.5B in February 2022 (TechCrunch, Inc42), after a $75M Series D at $400M in April 2021.

Sandeep Deshmukh, the ex-Amazon India executive who built its 'I Have Space' crowdsourced delivery channel, founded ElasticRun in 2016 with Shitiz Bansal and Saurabh Nigam, both ex-EdgeVerve. Their bet: rural India's mom-and-pop stores were the true retail channel, and brands would pay for an elastic distribution network to reach them.

ElasticRun scaled to 125,000+ retail outlets across 300+ cities and 100+ brands by April 2021, then raised $75M Series D at $400M (2021) and $330M Series E at about $1.5B in February 2022, becoming India's fifth unicorn of 2022 with SoftBank leading. Revenue reached ₹2,653 Cr in FY25 (+8% YoY), while employee costs fell 17% and the net loss narrowed 60% to ₹145.1 Cr.

Still running and scaling: co-founder and CEO Deshmukh told Inc42 that FY25 was the company's best year operationally and that it is close to operational profitability, though it is still prioritizing growth over EBITDA.

The crowdsourced, asset-light model let ElasticRun scale to hundreds of thousands of stores without owning trucks or warehouses.

SoftBank's $330M Series E at $1.5B in 2022 validated kirana distribution as a venture-scale market.

The FY25 result shows a B2B network can improve margins through mix and cost discipline even while revenue growth slows.

ElasticRun monetizes the network in multiple ways - trade, logistics, credit and data - rather than relying on a single fee.

Asset-light crowdsourcing lets a B2B network scale fast, but margin - not GMV - is what makes it durable; ElasticRun's FY25 loss cut came from cost discipline, not new revenue.

As of December 2025 ElasticRun is still growth-focused: FY25 operating revenue was ₹2,653 Cr (+8% YoY) and the net loss narrowed 60% to ₹145.1 Cr, with employee costs down 17% and total expenses flat. CEO Deshmukh called FY25 its best year operationally and said it is close to operational profitability, though not EBITDA-profitable yet because it is still investing in growth. Its network spans hundreds of thousands of kiranas across hundreds of Indian cities, serving FMCG brands including HUL, ITC, P&G, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Reliance Retail, and competing with Udaan, Meesho and DealShare.