E-commerce solutions provider Graas, also known as “Growth as a Service”, said on Aug. 17 that it is developing new projects led by Galaxy (SPV led by Kejora), Performa (led by Multibillion European Asset Management), Integra Partners, Yuj Ventures (Xander Group) and AJ Capital.

Southeast Asian and Indian angel investors from deep tech, retail, ad tech and private equity also participated in the round.

Part of the new financing has been used to acquire 100% of D2C and data specialist Shoptimize Inc and Southeast Asia market specialist SELLinALL to advance Graas’ go-to-market strategy in the region. The founders of both companies have joined Graas’ board of directors and will continue to be part of the combined entity.

In addition to growth in Southeast Asia, the new funding will be used to expand the New Delhi-based startup’s team of more than 350 employees across seven countries.

Founded in 2022 by serial entrepreneurs and martech veterans Prem Bhatia and Ashwin Puri, Graas integrates previously siloed e-commerce data to enable real-time decision-making.

The platform’s AI engine can predict trends and provide actionable recommendations, the company said, covering marketplace storefronts, brand websites, social and conversational commerce, performance marketing, inventory management, warehousing and last-mile logistics.

Graas serves more than 250 clients, and its AI prediction engine processes more than 45 million data points per month across 4 million stock-keeping units (SKUs).

“While India and Southeast Asia are the fastest growing regions in the world for e-commerce, with a GMV of $200 billion, they still account for less than 10% of all retail sales in the region. There is a lot of room for growth. However, brands are finding that managing profitability is becoming more and more. It’s getting harder. Margins are threatened given growing market volume, revenue share with various platforms, advertising and customer acquisition costs (CAC), and fluctuating warehouse and last mile costs,” said CEO Bhatia.

“Graas’ vision is to break down data silos, increase brands’ speed to market, and create a lean, intelligent approach to marketing, inventory and content management – all in one dashboard. Our plug-and-play algorithms solve the problem of the scenarios provided by the brand that is equivalent to in-house data scientists.

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Jinesh Patel, the managing partner at Integra Partners, said the intersection of artificial intelligence, e-commerce, ad tech and fintech presents a multi-billion-dollar opportunity in Southeast Asia and India.