Former Coca-Cola executive targets $5 trillion market that B2B apps can’t crack

nFuse, an AI-powered B2B ordering platform co-founded with Appolica, has raised investments from Eleven Ventures and LAUNCHub, two of the most active venture funds in Central and Eastern Europe, to accelerate expansion in Europe, the US and emerging markets. The company helps CPG retailers place orders and helps CPG companies personalize promotional and new product communications via SMS, iMessage, WhatsApp and other messaging apps they already use, including text, voice or photo, without having to download a new app, log into a portal or change the way they operate.

Funding has reached a critical inflection point for the CPG industry. Energy costs and oil supply disruptions now ripple up to one-third of the CPG value chain, simultaneously impacting manufacturing, packaging, warehousing and last-mile distribution. At the same time, consumer goods companies are facing pressure in the opposite direction. That said, weakening consumer confidence and declining disposable income are putting pressure on sales growth across key markets. Between rising operating costs and slowing profits, the industry can no longer afford to implement the human effort-driven approach of its most basic commercial process: reordering.

A $5 trillion channel where digital solutions continue to fail

Fragmented trade, the network of independent stores, kiosks, restaurants and HoReCa operators that dominate commerce in emerging markets, is worth more than $5 trillion annually. In regions such as CESEE, Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia, these stores account for the majority of FMCG sales. For CPG companies already looking to tighten margins, this channel is both their biggest growth opportunity and the most expensive to deliver through traditional means.

Despite more than a decade of investment in B2B e-commerce platforms, the adoption rate of fragmented transactions remains around 15%. Industry analysts estimate that 80 to 95 percent of B2B ecommerce projects underperform or fail outright. The platform technically works. Retailers ignore this.

“The fundamental assumption is wrong. The industry built eB2B for headquarters, for people who want dashboards and data, not for retailers standing behind the counter needing to reorder beer before the weekend rush.” – Stoyan Ivanov, co-founder and CEO of nFuse

Solution: Meet retailers where they already are

nFuse was founded on other observations. In every market, small retailers are already doing business through messaging apps. We’re sending voice notes, photos of empty shelves, and handwritten lists via SMS, WhatsApp, or any app we use every day. nFuse replaces existing behavior with a confirmed sequence in seconds.

There are no new apps. There is no login. No training required. The results are significantly different from what existing platforms provide. Retail adoption among enterprise customers is over 70%, with an industry average of 10-15%. Increase revenue per store by 15-30%. Deployment takes one month, not a year. The cost goal per order is less than $1. This is a 5x to 20x reduction compared to traditional representative-based or call center orders. For CPG brands under margin pressure, the cost difference is no longer just about increased efficiency. It’s a way to increase profitability in stores that were previously too expensive to offer the service.

For brands managing large-scale distribution, this model also changes the economics of long-tail reach. Retailers who previously reordered monthly when a sales representative happened to visit are now reordering weekly. New SKU releases help you reach stores faster. And with all transactions flowing through a single channel, real-time demand signals are available across the entire network.

“It’s not that these retailers hate technology. They’re constantly using technology. It’s just not the technology we’re trying to provide. They don’t want another app. They want to order the same way they would message their family.” – Stefan Radov, nFuse Co-Founder and COO

investor perspective

“Stoyan and Stefan know the FMCG industry well and have embarked on ambitious work to fix the broken model of B2B e-commerce solutions. Rather than asking retailers to change their behavior, advances in AI open up new horizons for intelligent solutions that speak their own language through the channels they commonly use. This opens up enormous opportunities for brands as the tail of the market can now be serviced efficiently and at scale.” – Ivaylo Simov, Partner, Eleven Ventures

“The B2B e-commerce graveyard is littered with platforms that worked technically but failed commercially. Most portals force unnatural actions: Buyers don’t want to click on SKUs and quantities. nFuse makes ordering natural again through voice, text, or images, just like speaking or texting a sales representative. In 30 years of deployment, our founders have seen exactly where adoption is failing. We back it with insights as much as products.” – Rumen Iliev, Partner, LAUNCHub Ventures

What’s next

The funding will support nFuse’s expansion across Europe with plans to expand into the wider EMEA and Americas markets. The company currently serves category leaders in beverages, beer, snacks, frozen foods, modern nicotine, dairy, pet food and wholesale distribution, and is validating its model across the FMCG vertical.

In addition to orders, nFuse is building payments and predictive demand intelligence. This means enabling retailers to pay through the same messaging thread as they place an order, and using aggregated shelf data to generate real-time supply signals for brands.

“The industry has spent 10 years trying to get retailers to come to us. We’re just going where they already are.” – Stoyan Ivanov, co-founder and CEO of nFuse

Introduction to nFuse

nFuse is an AI-powered B2B ordering platform that enables FMCG retailers and HoReCa operators to order and enable two-way conversational commerce via SMS, iMessage, WhatsApp and other messaging apps using text, voice or images. Founded by former Coca-Cola executives Stoyan Ivanov and Stefan Radov, the company has over 30 years of distribution experience and partners with leading FMCG production and distribution companies in Europe and emerging markets. nFuse is backed by Eleven Ventures and LAUNCHub and co-founded with Appolica.