Early-stage venture capital firm Orios Venture Partners has invested Rs 5 crore (nearly $700,000) in Gully Network Retail, a technology-enabled chain of small-format kirana stores.
Ajay Nain, co-founder at Gully Network Retail, said the firm ensures an increase in net income of retailers through technology. “We take care of sales, margins, finance, inventory, merchandise and additional income for the retailers in our network,” he said.
An alumnus of IIT Madras, Nain earlier co-founded RentoMojo, an online rental marketplace for furniture, home appliances, and bikes. He joined hands with Prateek Chaturvedi, an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, to float Gully Network in August this year.
Gully Network is a platform that transforms a small-format business into an omnichannel modern store. The firm, which currently operates in Bengaluru, has 25 stores in its chain and aims to have at least one store at every one-kilometer radius across the country.
Anup Jain, managing partner at Orios Venture Partners, said the Indian grocery retail market is approximately 70% of the total retail market in India today. However, we have seen little transformation on ground in the 15 million small format kirana stores which comprise over 90% of this market, he adds.
Orios has backed several startups through its two funds so far, particularly in online consumer technology and the SaaS segment.
Some of its known bets are online lingerie brand Pretty Secrets, beauty appointment booking app Ziffi, on-demand home services company TaskBob, internet-first daily affordable meal delivery company Yumist and budget accommodation provider Zo Rooms, healthcare financing firm LetsMD and online pharmacy PharmEasy.
