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SuperK, a tech-enabled grocery retail chain in small towns, has raised $6 million in a Series A round of funding spearheaded by Blume Ventures. Other participating investors include Silver Needle Ventures, Veltis Capital, Atrium Angels, angel investors, and syndicates. 

The funding will be used for technology infrastructure, hiring, and amplifying the platform’s reach to fuel connections between digital native brands and their customer base.

Founded in 2020 by Anil Thontepu and Neeraj Menta, SuperK rebrands existing small-format stores under its branding and helps them with standardised pricing, discounts, cashback and digital billing.

SuperK strives to facilitate a transition for customers from unorganised kirana stores to a more organised retail experience. The Binny Bansal-backed startup operates in more than 80 Tier III, IV, and V towns in Andhra Pradesh, serving over 5 lakh families for the past four years.

“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,” said Neeraj Menta, Co-founder of SuperK.

“Customers have discovered new products and upgraded to a more healthy choice of staples at SuperK,” he added.

“We were tracking this space for a couple of years and while the market was hot for Tier III-IV towns, retail enabled by a tech supply-chain backbone, we saw SuperK’s dense approach in AP paying off dividends and delivering store level profitability—we think it’s the right way to build modern trade for Bharat. We are excited to back the next phase of scale before we eventually tackle most of South India,” said Karthik Reddy, Blume Ventures. 

Majority of customers are experiencing self-service stores for the first time through the platform, said the company in a statement.

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[Startup Bharat] This retail-tech platform is revamping kiranas in Tier III cities in Andhra Pradesh

In India, grocery retail is a $600-billion market, with small towns (Tier II and below) accounting for over 80% of share. However, organised retail chains capture less than 5% of the market.

By creating a modern grocery experience for small-town customers, SuperK aims to encourage customers to shift from loose and unhygienic staples to packaged, standardised staples. 

SuperK operates 125 stores in Andhra Pradesh. A SuperK store typically ranges from 500 to 1,000 square feet, stocking approximately 2500 SKUs (stock keeping units).

With one SuperK store for every 25,000 population, the brand claims to have achieved high store density in each district in Andhra Pradesh. For instance, in Kadapa, which has a population of 450,000, SuperK operates over 22 stores.

The firm also tracks customer behaviour through granular data collection for each purchase, enabling personalised offers for every customer. 

Prior to starting SuperK, Thontepu served at Kaodim, a home services platform in Southeast Asia, where he oversaw growth and product development. He also held positions at Hike, BYJU’S, and PhonePe. Menta was the co-founder of Hungerbox, a cafeteria management service, and has also worked with Flipkartand Zeta (Directi).