Odicea Distribution Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs the offline to online neighborhood store network 1K Kirana, on Monday said it has raised $25 million (around Rs 194 crore) in its series B funding round led by Alpha Wave Ventures, Info Edge Ventures and Kae Capital.
Other investors who participated in this funding round include the founders of Zetwerk and GoMechanic. The current capital infusion is the first tranche of a larger round, the statement added.
“Over the next 12 months, we aim to serve more than 10 million consumers across 100 districts through 5,000 franchise stores," said the founders of 1K Kirana in a joint statement.
“Technology plays a big role in every decision we make and every process and function we build. We would not have been able to scale so fast without our unwavering commitment to building inclusive technologies for our communities and consumers. It is imperative that we keep on investing in people to build sustainable technologies that last a lifetime and impact millions," they added.
Founded in 2018 by Kumar Sangeetesh, Sachin Sharma and Abhishek Halder, 1K Kirana opened their first franchise store in early 2020. The startup claims to have served more than a million consumers across more than 25 districts across Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh through a network of more than 1,000 franchise stores.
Last year in August, the startup raised $7 million (around Rs 54 crore) in its series A funding round led by Info Edge Ventures and partners of New York-based alternative investments firm Falcon Edge.
“The kind of impact 1K has created in a very short period of time in the lives of consumers and franchisee partners alike is extremely hard to achieve. The 1K Mall app has already enabled lakhs of non-urban Indians to shop online for the first time. We believe the 1K team is building an iconic company that is transforming how non-urban India shops for their daily needs by widening their choices with higher quality, affordable options," said Kitty Agarwal, partner, Info Edge Ventures.