Retail chain SuperK raises $6 million led by Blume Ventures, others
Summary
Branded franchised retail chain for small towns of India, SuperK has raised $6 million in a Series A round of funding led by Blume Ventures with participation from Silver Needle Ventures, Veltis Capital, Atrium Angels, and some angel investors and syndicates.The company aims to use the funding for investing in technology infrastructure, hiring, and scaling the platform to connect digital native brands with SuperK customers. Also read: Start-up funding sees slowdown in Q1 2024 after three quarters of growth: TracxnFounded in 2020 by Anil Thontepu and Neeraj Menta, SuperK is a franchised retail chain for small towns of India, currently operating in over 80 Tier 3, 4, 5 towns of Andhra Pradesh serving over 5 lakh families over the last four years.The Binny Bansal-backed startup helps customers to move from unorganised Kirana stores to a branded, organised retail experience where a majority of customers go through a self-service store for the first time.At SuperK, our vision is to bring a better grocery shopping experience for the small-town customers who are currently stuck with a subpar experience provided by their neighbourhood kirana store. These customers have discovered new products and upgraded to a more healthy choice of staples at SuperK, said Neeraj Menta, Co-founder of SuperK.In India, grocery retail is a $600-billion market, with small towns (Tier II and below) accounting for over 80 per cent of the share. By creating a modern grocery experience for small-town customers, SuperK encourages customers to shift from loose and unhygienic staples to packaged, standardised staples. Also read: VentureBlick to help Indian health tech start-ups go globalThe company has 125 stores in Andhra Pradesh and the stores typically range from 500 to 1,000 square feet, stocking approximately 2,500 SKUs (stock-keeping units).