1k Kirana Bazaar Raises $7 Mn In Series A Funding

Kirana Tech platform 1k Kirana Bazaar (also known as 1k) has raised $7 Mn in Series A funding in an investment round co-led by Info Edge Ventures and Falcon Edge. Existing investor Kae Capital also participated in the round. Other investors who were a part of the round include Blackbuck founders Rajesh Yabaji & Chanakya Hridaya and Hari TN from Bigbasket. 

In its previous investment round, the startup had raised around $1.5 Mn from Kae Capital And 1crowd.

It plans to use the new funds to expand to 1000+ kirana store partnerships in the next one year and serve more than a million consumers. 

Founded in 2018 By Kumar Sangeetesh, Sachin Sharma and Abhishek Halder, 1k Kirana Bazaar is a consumer-focused retail brand that partners with neighbourhood kirana stores in India’s smaller towns enabling them to compete with both online and offline organised retail.

The startup’s technology stack helps kirana store owners to acquire and retain consumers, improve their sourcing efficiency, their assortment and pricing for end consumers, which helps them multiply their income manifold. 

1k’s consumer app further extends the capabilities of the kirana store by acting as a virtual shelf to stock long-tail items like homeware, kitchenware, electronics etc, which consumers can buy for pick up or delivery from the kirana store. The startup claims its app has seen promising organic adoption by thousands of consumers, most of whom are first-time online shoppers.

According To Reports, India’s online grocery market will reach $24 Bn by 2025. But, unicorns like Swiggy and BigBasket already occupy the current e-grocery segment. Besides, other B2B startups like Dukaan, OkShop, Dotpe’s, Digital Showroom, and several others are competing in the ‘Kiraana Tech’ space.   

 1k Kirana Bazaar claims to be ushering into the retail market with their asset-light model quickly scaling to 150 touchpoints. It plans on serving more than 100,000 consumers while maintaining robust unit economics. 

As the business raises more funding, Sangeetesh said, “The changing landscape of consumer demand has got us to focus on the real issue of meeting the demand and supply gap, especially in non-urban India. With these funds, our efforts are to bring parity to products and experiences to meet the rising standards of living among India’s new consumers.”