MUMBAI, March 6 -- Rural e-commerce platform Rozana has raised Rs.290 crore in a Series B funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments, as the company looks to deepen its presence and expand its rural storefront network, Ankur Dahiya, co-founder and chief executive told Mint.

"We started in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and we feel its the right time to expand our footprint in the same Ganges belt," said Dahiya. "Secondly, we want to increase our penetration in the areas we're present."

The fundraise comes as Rozana scales its hybrid rural commerce model-combining neighbourhood storefronts and centralized warehouses with a network of women-led last-mile partners-at a time when relatively few startups are focused exclusively on India's...