hyperlocal shopping distributing platform
1K Kirana, an Indian startup that operates an eponymous hyperlocal shopping app and retail distribution network, has raised $25 million in a new financing round as it attempts to help brands and neighborhood stores reach more consumers.
The three-year-old startup’s Series B financing was led by Alpha Wave Global, Info Edge Ventures and Kae Capital. A number of angel investors including Amrit Acharya, founder and chief executive of Zetwerk, also participated in what the startup said was the first tranche of a larger financing round. The startup has raised about $34 million to date.
Neighborhood stores dot tens of thousands of cities, towns and villages in India. They have survived — and thrived, despite — retail giants’ billions of investment in the country. But they struggle with securing inventories in large volumes and at good prices.
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1K Kirana is attempting to solve it with a multifaceted approach. The startup serves as a distribution network for these stores and also helps them with digital marketing to reach more consumers. 1K Kirana also operates an app for consumers, which they can use to discover, order and pay for their purchases.
Consumers can either have the order delivered to their homes, or pick it up from the nearby store. If they have ordered an item that is not available at the store, 1K Kirana delivers it to the store.
The vast majority of items neighborhood stores sell are from the FMCG category. The challenge with operating in this category’s universe is that shop owners make a single-digit profit moving these items. The industry agrees that it’s a problem worth solving because these stores move the vast majority of their inventories, so reaching them — and by proxy, their consumers — is crucial for everyone’s success.
hyperlocal shopping distributing platform
