Veon increased its investment in Bangladeshi B2B commerce platform ShopUp. The investment has been made by the group’s Veon Ventures division alongside Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Prosus Ventures (formerly Naspers Ventures), Flourish Ventures and Sequoia Capital India, as part of ShopUp’s Series B investment round.
ShopUp raised USD 75 million through this investment round, which was led by Valar Ventures. It follows the company’s Series A in October 2020, in which Veon participated as ShopUp’s first strategic corporate investor. The proceeds will be used to build infrastructure, expand categories and launch new financial products to help meet the needs of underserved small retailers in Bangladesh.
ShopUp’s oversubscribed investment round is the largest Series B for a B2B commerce platform in South Asia. The round brings ShopUp’s total funding to over USD 110 million. Over the past 12 months, ShopUp grew its revenues by over 13 times and has seen an 11-fold increase in the number of total shipments enabled by its platform.
Veon’s investment in ShopUp reflects the Group’s growing focus on digital services, which are enjoying rapid customer adoption as Veon increases the reach of its 4G networks through an accelerated investment programme. ShopUp complements the range of services currently offered by Veon's local mobile operator Banglalink, which include its mobile entertainment app Toffee, with 5 million active customers.
