Hyperlocal Services Startup Dusminute Raises Rs 11.5 Crore Led by Inflection Point Ventures

• Dusminute revolutionizes grocery ordering in gated communities by partnering with developers and RWAs. They provide a superstore within the community and a dedicated super app for home deliveries and other value added services offering residents a convenient and comprehensive solution.
• The funds will be utilized to drive Dusminute's growth in Bangalore.
• Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) has so far invested over INR 550 Cr across 170+ deals.

Hyperlocal grocery-store and managed services company Dusminute has raised Rs 11.5 Crores in a bridge Round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The funds will be utilized to drive Dusminute’s growth in Bangalore.

(L-R) — Apoorva Mishra- CEO, Ankita Asai- CPO, Nikhil Gupta- COO, Dusminute

The round has seen participation from multiple existing investors and industry veteran angel investors syndicated by an angel investor and banker Bandana Kankani.

Dusminute is building a brand catering to the grocery needs of affluent and elite residents in gated communities. While existing quick commerce and traditional e-commerce players have their limitations, such as product quality, delivery time issues and unit economics, Dusminute aims to fill this gap as a crucial third layer. With its hyperlocal omnichannel platform, Dusminute provides a convenient and timely solution for daily essentials and groceries specifically tailored to the needs of these communities.

Dusminute was founded by Apoorva Mishra, Ankita Asai, and Nikhil Gupta, who bring with them a strong academic background with B. Tech degrees from prestigious institutions like IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi. Apoorva Mishra, CEO, Dusminute is an expert in key operation areas like finance, business operations and strategy, honed through his experience as the founder of Gapoon and previous roles at EXL and Fractal. Ankita Asai, the CPO, specializes in product development, processes and growth, having also founded Gapoon and worked at Schlumberger. Nikhil Gupta, the COO, focuses on efficient operations, with prior entrepreneurial experience at Gapoon and a background at Fractal.

Madhukar Bhardwaj, Sr. Vice President, Inflection Point Ventures, says, “DusMinute is aiming to take quick commerce a notch higher by leveraging an omni channel approach. It blends the best of both worlds, of a quick-commerce operator as a quick delivery provider and the convenience and healthy unit economics of a neighbourhood kirana store. In-society stores make customers more comfortable in buying and exchanging products and the home delivery provided adds convenience with a familiar touch of kirana stores. We believe such a hybrid model has the potential to emerge as a good alternative to users and will establish itself as a recognizable brand in coming times.”

Dusminute plans to expand its operations to the top 7-8 cities in India, leveraging its successful foundation and meeting the growing demand for convenient grocery solutions within apartment complexes.

Its niche focus on apartment complexes and its innovative omni-channel model combining a superstore and superapp sets it apart, offering convenience, high-quality products, and addressing concerns of product quality and delivery time. With a low CAC and a captive audience, Dusminute's profitable business model positions it as a leading player in serving the grocery needs of affluent residents.

Apoorva Mishra, CEO, Dusminute says, “Omni channel is the future of retail and it's here already. Dusminute redefines both the offline and online experience for its consumers. This investment will help us to scale up in Bangalore and turn operationally profitable within the coming months. We want to capture a key market like Bangalore, build a profitable business and then enter newer markets in India.”

Dusminute has achieved remarkable success as Karnataka's leading convenience store chain exclusively serving apartment complexes. With operations currently running in 35 apartment communities and a pipeline of a dozen more, Dusminute has solidified its position as the go-to destination for convenient shopping within these communities.

Dusminute stands to benefit from substantial growth potential as the number of residents in gated communities is projected to more than double by 2030.

About Dusminute

Founded by Apoorva Mishra, Ankita Asai, and Nikhil Gupta, Dusminute is transforming the grocery ordering experience for residents in gated communities. Their innovative approach leverages relationships, data, and proximity commerce. Dusminute adopts a unique omnichannel strategy by partnering with developers and Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), offering a superstore within the community premises that provides a wide range of products including vegetables, groceries, bakery items, snacks, and even a pharmacy. In addition, their dedicated superapp facilitates home deliveries and offers numerous value-added services like painting, deep cleaning, pest control etc, creating a comprehensive 360° solution for residents' needs.

About Inflection Point Ventures & Physis Capital

Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) is an angel investing platform with over 8600 CXOs, HNIs, and Professionals to together invest in startups. The firm supports new-age entrepreneurs by providing them with monetary & experiential capital and connecting them with a diverse group of investors. IPV has announced the launch of a $50 million CAT 2 AIF Physis Capital to invest in pre-Series A to Series B growth-stage

Legendary Singer Lucky Ali Invests in Hyperlocal Content Commerce Startup Knocksense

Knocksense is actively raising $1 million in its pre-series A round, with notable participation from investors such as Nitish Mittersain, Mohit Satyanand and others

Knocksense, the leading hyperlocal content-driven commerce platform, has announced its recent investment from music veteran Lucky Ali. This partnership marks a significant milestone for Knocksense as it continues to revolutionize hyperlocal content, commerce, and live entertainment.

LuckyAli, celebrated for his iconic contributions to the music industry, expressed his excitement for Knocksense, stating, “I am truly impressed by their innovative business model that merges hyperlocal commerce with pop culture. Knocksense is fostering an authentic community that connects the youth in smaller cities with greater opportunities through engaging content and commerce.”

Started by Vibhore Mayank & Varul Mayank, Knocksense is actively raising $1 million in its per- series A round , with notable participation from investors such as Nitish Mittersain, Mohit Satyanand, AvnishSabharwal, Alok Nath De, We Founders Circle, Lets Venture, Mumbai Angels Network, and ImperierHoldings. This impressive investor lineup reflects the strong confidence and support Knocksense has received from the investment community, affirming the potential and viability of its unique business model.

With a strong presence in four major Indian cities, including Lucknow, Kanpur, Indore, and Ahmedabad, Knocksense has already made a remarkable impact by delivering hyperlocal content, recommendations, events, and commerce opportunities to its rapidly growing user base. The participation in the funding round from Lucky Ali will further empower Knocksense to expedite its expansion plans, reaching more cities and fostering connections with diverse communities across India.

"We are honoured to have Lucky Ali join us as an investor and partner in our journey," said Vibhore Mayank &Varul Mayank, the founders of Knocksense. "Lucky Ali's belief in our mission strengthens our resolve to empower young users and local brands in smaller cities through hyperlocal content, events, and commerce. We are excited to leverage his expertise and guidance as we continue to shape the future of Knocksense."

Knocksense remains committed to its core mission of providing authentic, localized content and fostering engagement among young users and local brands in tier II cities. By leveraging the power of technology and cultural relevance, Knocksense aims to bridge the gap between traditional media channels and the evolving needs of the younger generation.

About Knocksense

Knocksense, is a youth focussed hyperlocal content driven commerce platform which engages it's community of tier II cities based usersand brands by meaningful digital content and live entertainment. Founded by Varul Mayank and Vibhore Mayank, Knocksense has rapidly grown to become a trusted platform for youth in various cities in India.

Hyperlocal Jewellery Retail Chain Vaibhav Jewellers Files DRHP with SEBI for IPO

Visakhapatnam-headquartered Manoj Vaibhav Gems ‘N’ Jewellers Ltd, a leading regional jeweller brand in South India having a presence in the micro markets of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana across 8 towns and 2 cities has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO).

The public issue with a face value of equity shares of Rs. 10 each is a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 210 cr and an Offer for Sale of 43,00,000 equity shares by Grandhi Bharata Mallika Ratna Kumari (HUF), the Promoter Selling Shareholder.

The company, in consultation with the lead bankers to the issue, may consider a further issue of equity shares for cash consideration aggregating up to Rs 40 crore. If such placement is completed, the fresh issue size will be reduced.

The utilisation of the net proceeds is to finance the establishment of 8 new showrooms costing Rs 12 crs and the purchase of inventory worth Rs 160 crs over FY23 and FY24 besides general corporate purposes

Vaibhav Jewellers was founded by the Late Mr Manoj Kumar Grandhi in 1994 and is currently being led by a first-generation woman entrepreneur Mrs Bharata Mallika Ratna Kumari Grandhi along with her daughter Grandhi Sai Keerthana.

The jewellery brand was one of the earlier entrants in the organised jewellery market in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It operates a hub and spoke model with small-sized showrooms operating around the larger showrooms and addresses to the requirements across all economic segments. Its flagship showroom in Visakhapatnam is spread across 29,946 sq ft and four different floors of shopping experience

77% of its retail showrooms are in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and the rest are in Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam catering to urban consumers. Each of its showroom houses varied exquisite and large inventory of designs across a wide range of products in Gold, Diamond, Gems, Platinum & Silver Jewellery or Articles. Its sub-brand Visesha caters to a premium segment of gold and diamond jewellery.

As per the Technopak report stated in its DRHP, in FY21, the company had an approximate market share of 14% of the organised market. Other key players in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are Tanishq, Kalyan Jewellers, Malabar Gold Pvt Ltd, GRT Jewellers and Joyalukkas

Besides selling on its own website and other market places, it focuses on having a one to one connect with each of its customers , to do so it conducts focused group discussions to educate customers; exhibiting at exhibitions to showcase its new collections and increase brand awareness; direct selling activities and village campaigns. Interestingly they have a marriage cell that has a database of the marriage ecosystem which it uses to approach couples and their families for purchasing jewellery for the occasion.

In FY 22 its revenue from operations stood at Rs 1693.9 crs, majorly from the sale of gold jewellery. In 2005 it stood at Rs 50.9 crs. The Jewellery brands per retail showroom revenue and EBITA metrics stood at Rs 141.16 crs and Rs 8.7 crs respectively. Between FY20-22 the Revenue and PAT grew a CAGR of 15.08% and 33.83%. Its e-commerce sales grew from Rs 4.16 cr in FY 19 to Rs 28.6 crs in FY 22.

The rural market continues to contribute 60% of the jewellery demand in India. Gold is still considered an investment of the future hence despite the price rise the volume of purchases advanced by the rural customer continues to grow particularly for weddings, religious rituals, or post-harvest. It continues to have a special place in Indian Culture and 5 Southern state i.e Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala make up 40% of the Indian Jewellery Market.

Bajaj Capital Ltd and Elara Capital (India) Pvt Ltd are the book running lead managers and Bigshare Services Pvt Ltd is the registrar to the offer. The equity shares are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE.

Gardening-focused Hyperlocal Marketplace Urvann Raises Rs 3 Cr in Seed Round Led by Inflection Point Ventures

Akanksha Gupta & Sambhav Jain, Co-Founders of Urvann

• Since its inception, Urvann has serviced more than 15,000 orders and has delivered over 100,000 plants in Delhi NCR. It currently services more than 100 orders per day
• Urvann has created India’s first active community of 25000+ plant parents across India who engage regularly to discuss their plant-related questions
• IPV has announced the launch of $50 million AIF Fund Physis Capital to invest in Series A and B growth-stage start-up
• IPV has so far invested over Rs. 400 Cr in 128+ deals

Gardening-focused hyperlocal marketplace Urvann has raised Rs.3 crore in a seed round led by the angel investment platform, Inflection Point Ventures (IPV). The funds raised will be utilized for the expansion of operations across the country.

Founded by IIM-Ahmedabad and ISB alums, a husband-wife duo who quit their consulting careers to pursue their passion for plants, Urvann is India’s first hyperlocal marketplace for plants and gardening products. Urvann launched operations in Delhi-NCR in August 2021 to revolutionize the way India buys plants. Urvann provides the largest variety and next-day delivery of fresh plants at the lowest prices by partnering with local nurseries in a city- setting it apart from traditional players who courier plants from one city to another- leading to high delivery costs and suboptimal plant quality due to long transit times.

Within a year of its inception, Urvann has already catered to 15,000+ orders, delivered 100,000 plants in Delhi, and served more than 6,000 happy customers. It is now aiming to expand its operations in major Indian cities including Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and Chennai by the end of this year. The company is planning a 10X increase in the monthly GMV by the year-end.

Mitesh Shah, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures says, “Nurturing plants in our homes has been a way of life for all of us. The gardening market is very fragmented, due to which consumers find it difficult and time-consuming to attend to their plants given their busy lives. Urvann offers people a platform for all the gardening requirements from seed to décor at the click of a button, enhancing the whole customer experience. This is a largely untapped market opportunity, especially in the urban pockets.”

Urvann is India's first hyperlocal gardening marketplace, creating a one-stop store for all gardening products and services by utilizing the unique Content-Community-Commerce concept. Its hyperlocal marketplace approach provides a platform for local plant nurseries to sell their products online and cater to their specific area. The hyperlocal operations ensure that the plants arrive in an excellent state when delivered to customers, without superfluous packing, and at the same pricing as they would be found in a local store. Urvann is currently functioning in Delhi-NCR and will soon expand to other cities in order to achieve its goal of creating true "URBAN VANN."

Urvann’s unique aggregator model enables them to provide a 10x variety of products at one-fifth the price as compared to other online players. Their hyperlocal and zero packaging deliveries ensure plants reach the customers fresh and healthy, and with minimum harm to the environment. The company has a community-first approach that helps plant lovers across India connect with each other. They have an active and growing community of 25000+ plant parents, who interact with Urvann via their weekly workshops, events, and community groups.

Sambhav Jain, Co-Founder of Urvann says, “Understanding the sheer need to make the entire gardening process seamless for our passionate plant parents who may find it difficult to purchase due to time constraints, proximity to marketplace etc. Urvann has established a one stop online store to cater to all the requirements right from buying fresh plants to gardening products and services. The platform onboards the local vendors/nurserymen who can extend their service through Urvann, thus enabling them to scale their business quickly.

He further added, “With the funds raised, Urvann will be utilizing this to rapidly expand operations to other Indian metros and support our next phase of growth. By 2025, we aspire to be present in all Indian cities and take our services to all plant lovers across India. We look forward to IPV support to help us strategically grow.”

The Indian gardening retail market is an INR 20,000 crore market and is growing rapidly at a CAGR of 15%. The primary reasons for this growth are an increasing number of millennials becoming active plant parents; and secondly, the use of plants in the gifting and décor industry. Plants have replaced bouquets and artificial showpieces at homes and offices. People are actively realizing the benefits of having plants around them, as it also has a positive impact on our mental health.

Ahmedabad based Hyperlocal Delivery marketplace MyToolBag achieves Milestone of Delivering 10,000+ Orders Covering 50k+ Kms

Envisioning 50,000+ orders in next 3 months and successfully delivering them, MyToolBag is the first ever hyperlocal delivery marketplace for stationery stores nearby. It enables 24x7 eco-friendly deliveries with scheduled time-slots by customers which eases them with no need of timely order tracking.

Founded in the year 2016 by Saurabh Chavda and Prashant Dodiya during their graduation, MyToolBag started by taking orders through WhatsApp and delivering in just the campus of L.D College of Engineering, Ahmedabad. Seeing the growth in sales, it soon transformed into an e-Commerce website www.mytoolbag.in. Realising the problems and the declining sales of local stores operating in Ahmedabad due to online operations of MyToolBag, they decided to join hands with the stores by onboarding them all and help them fight other online giants offering huge discounts and promises. In January, 2019, launched the Application called MyToolBag which empowers local stationery stores with free technology infrastructure and eco-friendly delivery mechanism by partnering with them and bringing them back into the competition with other online giants. With huge positive response from both customers and partner stores, it plans to launch in 4 new cities within first 5 months of 2020.

MyToolBag App not only connects customers to their favourite local stores directly and enables them to shop anything from anywhere with superfast deliveries, but it also helps them compare prices at different stores and explore an enormous variety of stationery products at their fingertips. The best part is, a customer can choose at what time he/she wants his/her order to be delivered i.e. you can schedule your order as per your convenience. 

Currently MyToolBag operates with 80+ partner stores selling 11,000+ products of various range and brands. It also employs corporate tie-ups, school tie-ups, Govt. dept. tie-up and other facilities having collaborated with various sectors for easy purchasing and eco-friendly deliveries. It also provides customized products be it T-shirts, caps, bags, key chains, mugs, corporate gifts etc. You name it, they customize it. 

With continuous feedbacks and working day and night to make the customers lazy in a much productive way, MTBians (that’s what they call themselves in team) are regularly updating their App with new cool features to shop seamlessly by implementing Machine Learning Algos for smart purchases and AI for eco-friendly deliveries.

It aims to provide this best ever digital but local shopping experience to each and every individual of India and also considers the role of local vendors in the economy by empowering them. With the potential of being a crucial part in making India digital from the very grassroot level, MyToolBag strives super hard with the tagline “SHOP LOCALLY BUT DIGITALLY”.

With Live availability of Products, Hyperlocal Startup Mapprr brings 60-Minute Delivery

To provide comfort to the customers, Hyderabad-based Mapprr , a Hyperlocal delivery startup, has launched live availability of the products on-board for the first time in India along with quick 60 minutes delivery.

With this, Mapprr has taken a step forward towards enhancing the quality of customer experience.  Moreover, on one hand, users experience difficulties in finding products one may need, and on the other hand roaming store to store is a big disadvantage. So, with Mapprr, users can get real time product availability updates along with quick delivery service. Moreover, users can either order from Web or Mobile Application from Mapprr!

In the words of Aruna Subhakar, Founder & CEO – Mapprr, “Innovation in Hyperlocal market along with specialized services is making all the right noises. It works towards empowering small and local retailers to think smart and tie up their business to serve customers in their locality smartly adhering to the technological advancements.

He further added that the people are embracing this new dynamic marketplace, as it provides them a perfect amalgamation of the traditional and modern shopping experience.

Founded in 2015, by 25-year-old Aruna Subhakar. P , Mapprr has raised angel funding to an undisclosed amount. The company plans to raise US$7 Million and are in talks with few VC firms with Saif Partners & Kalari Capital.

60 Minutes Delivery- Delivered in a FLASH.

Mapprr
has stationed out 10+ number of delivery champions in every area summing up to
100 champions. These delivery champions would receive the orders within certain
distance from the store assigned to them. The company has tied up with stores
like Apollo, Medplus, Ratnadeep, The Body Shop, Nykaa, HealthKart, NewU,
Sangeeta Mobiles, Big C & LOT Mobiles, etc. who readily pack the products
once the order is received. The delivery champions go and pick up the orders
and deliver at the doorsteps. The fastest delivery in a busy city like
Hyderabad is 17 Minutes!

Currently available in Hyderabad, Mapprr
delivers Groceries, Medicines, Electronics, Beauty care, Fitness Supplements,
Pet Supplies, and plans to introduce Flowers, Watches, Gifting items, Mouth
Sweetener like Paan, etc. This year, the company plans
to hire 2,000 delivery fleet and 200 employees across Hyderabad and Bangalore.
This year, Mapprr plans to expand to Pune and Gurugram.

Swiggy CEO Confirms Company's Entry To Hyperlocal Delivery Space

Sriharsha Majety, CEO & co-founder of Swiggy, has said in an interview that the company is experimenting with few hyperlocal categories, which is among several new initiatives that the India’s largest online food ordering startup has planned for going beyond just food ordering and delivering.

“We’ve been closely observing our consumers’ lives and we feel that there are some unique capabilities that we have that can take a shot at solving more problems, even outside the realm of food. You’ll see us start making small forays into new areas,” said Majety in an interview.

This confirms a report we published in April this year, according to which Swiggy, in coming months, will launch new hyperlocal service called 'Dash', to deliver medicines and grocery.

Additionally, Swiggy is also working on a new loyalty program to retain its fleet of several thousands of delivery executives, said Majety.

Notably, since start of this year Hyperlocal delivery startups are grabbing investor eyeballs again with startups in this segment raising a total of $82.6 million in funding, in first half of 2018 - according YourStory research. In June, Bangalore-based hyperlocal delivery startup Dailyninja raised $3 Mn in a funding by Saama Capital.

According to market research firm, Ken Research in its latest publication on “India Hyperlocal Market Outlook to 2020 - Driven by Rising Startups Firms and Fluctuating Investments”, the India Hyperlocal market will grow at a considerable CAGR rate thus exceeding INR 2,306 crore by 2020

This year, Swiggy raised a total of $301 million in two rounds - $100 Mn from Naspers and China’s Meituan, in February; and, $210 million from Naspers and DST Global, in June. This made Swiggy to join elite club of Unicorns - aka startups with a valuation of $1 billion+ - and values Swiggy at roughly $1.3 billion, surpassing rival Zomato’s $1.1 billion valuation.

Founded in 2014, by Majety, Nandan Reddy and Rahul Jaimini, Swiggy is one of the fastest entrants into the unicorn club and raised a total of $465 million since it started.

According to Swiggy's latest regulatory filings, the company reported revenue of roughly Rs 133 crore, while losses widened to Rs 205 crore in the 2016-17 financial year.

Hyperlocal Discovery Startup MagicPin Raises $7 Mn In Series B Funding

Hyperlocal discovery startup MagicPin has secured $7 million in Series B round from existing investor Lightspeed India Partners and Waterbridge Ventures.

Current round also saw the participation of $15 million venture fund floated by private equity veteran Manish Kheterpal and two global family offices, Srivatsan Rajan, Chairman of Bain and Co India, and Sahil Barua, CEO of logistics company Delhivery. Earlier, Startup had raised $3 million in Series A from Lightspeed India Partners.

Commenting on the development, Bejul Somaia, MD, Lightspeed India Partners, said, "The vast majority of commerce is, and will continue to be, transacted offline. MagicPin’s metrics reflect early but exceptional success in capturing smartphone-wielding users and directing their offline spend to participating merchants.”

Currently present in Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Mumbai, MagicPin uses location intelligence to deliver discover, recommendations and rewards for local experiences. It is the social network for local experiences.

Within three months of its launch in Delhi/NCR, Gurgaon-based startup MagicPin claimed to have signed up 150K active users and have covered 30K merchants across Delhi NCR region, Bengaluru, and Jaipur.

According to MagicPin CEO, Anshoo Sharma, the key differentiator for them is that it allows people to share their experience about a place they went to with a post and a picture.

With Launch of Menus In 21 Cities, Jugnoo Takes A Big Leap In Restaurant Aggregation

Hyperlocal startup, Jugnoo has launched its restaurant aggregator vertical Menus in 21 cities. Within 4 months of its launch, the app-based service that enables customers to order food from restaurants in the city has been expanded into 21 cities across India and has enrolled over 5000 merchants including prominent brands like Pizza Hut, KFC, Subway, Burger King and Domino’s.

Commenting on the development, Samar Singla, Founder and CEO of Jugnoo said, “We already have a good customer base in Tier II and Tier III cities due to our Rides vertical. As we are adding more offerings to our platform, it is enabling us to grow really fast. With Menus, we are witnessing a steady week-on-week growth of 20% and plan to add around 1000 new merchants every week. Currently servicing over 2000 orders per day, the venture is a big boon for local merchants who are high on quality but don’t get enough visibility. Menus is helping them scale their business and fulfil their delivery requirements.”

Founded in November 2014, Jugnoo offers a range of services like rides, ready to eat meals, restaurant food delivery, grocery and B2B delivery. Headquartered in Chandigarh, the company is currently rendering its services in 40 cities of India and trending at 50,000 daily transactions. It has over 15,000 autos empanelled under the brand at present.

With this expansion, Jugnoo claims that it has become the only platform to offer this kind of service in Tier II and Tier III cities like Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Vadodara, Indore and Bhopal. Further, as Jugnoo is utilising the logistics network of its B2B vertical for its restaurant food delivery segment, it is able to facilitate home delivery option for merchants who don’t have transportation means to do that. For customers, the service is not only convenient but also more economical as they can avail huge discounts while placing orders via Jugnoo app.

“We keep coming up with a lot of festival campaigns that enable people living in metros to send gifts to their friends and relatives in smaller cities. Unlike other restaurant aggregators, who hire third-party delivery partners, we ensure quick and convenient delivery through our own B2B logistics service.” Samar added.

Jugnoo’s Menus service is currently available in Chandigarh, Indore, Jaipur, Gurgaon, Noida, Bhopal, Vadodara, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Kota, Surat, Ahmedabad, Faridabad, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Lucknow, Nashik, Ludhiana, Pune, Madurai and Nagpur. The platform targets to enrol a whopping 6,000 merchants and expand its reach to 60-80 cities by end of this year.

Zopper Goes Multiplatform, Launches Its Web Platform from Being Just an App-Only

In a move that will definitely delight its users, Zopper, India’s largest hyperlocal marketplace, has announced the launch of its brand new desktop website. The website, www.zopper.com, will aim to enhance user friendliness and appeal, as well as improve the product and price discovery experience for its users.

Zopper’s transition from an app-only platform to a multiplatform e-commerce company has been enabled by the introduction of advanced website technologies. These innovations make it possible for the platform to identify the exact user location and help Zopper in extending its services to its users through a web-based platform. Another reason behind the launch of a dedicated website by Zopper is the increasing consumer preference for bigger screens to view images, especially for high-value purchases like electronics, something which was not possible through the mobile app.

Speaking on the website launch, Mr Neeraj Jain, CEO & Co-founder , Zopper, said, “As a leading hyperlocal e-commerce company, we have constantly endeavoured to provide a differentiated, cross-channel online-to-offline experience to our users. Our website platform has been designed to fulfil this vision of fostering greater trust about the product being ordered. With the introduction of several new features, such as maps, we are confident of fulfilling the delivery promise to our customers and making their purchase experience extremely satisfactory.”

The launch is aimed at providing Zopper users with a seamless experience across all online touchpoints including its mobile app, m-site and the desktop website. Zopper will build website content for its desktop platform in order to streamline its users’ discovery journey through retailer ratings, consumer reviews & feedback, expert product reviews and retailer social reviews. This will help users in identifying the best product to buy, the best price on offer and the best seller to buy from, bringing the online purchase experience much closer to the offline world.

Having put in a lot of effort into delivering a faster, smoother and non-intrusive flow for faster checkouts, Zopper’s hyperlocal approach will also ensure that products ordered through its website will have the fastest delivery as compared to other e-commerce websites. The portal will additionally update its website content with helpful product information, articles, blogs, newsletters and company announcements in order to add greater value to the user experience on its website.

Image - Neeraj Jain, Co-founder, Zopper

Chennai-Based Demoport Allows Users To Book Free Demos Before Purchasing The Products

Chennai-based Demoport is the online marketplace that you have been yearning for since years. It boasts of being a first-of-its-kind ​India-focused ​Hyperlocal Online+ Marketplace that enables buyers to ​seamlessly ​connect, interact and transact with brand-authorized neighbourhood sellers​.

Using Demoport, users can book free demos before purchasing the products.

Demoport list over 2000 products, which are predominantly bought offline, under six verticals namely home, office, education, healthcare, hospitality and construction. The customer can book free demos for any number of products at a date and time convenient for him/her.

While the user is free to buy or not buy the product after the demo, the platform also works as an online negotiation space for those who want to go ahead with the purchase. The partnership is directly with the brands and hence there is no need to build additional infrastructure. The brands' merchant partners and dealers come along with the partnership making it very scalable

Using features such as dynamic cart structure and process control block, it aims to deliver a more personalized and reassuring online shopping experience to its customers. It also has a Real-time Lead Sharing App on offer.

The startup's mission is to help people make buying decisions quickly. Using the service, people can quickly connect with local sellers for a pre-sales engagement, book an enquiry or demo, get their queries clarified, place orders, negotiate deals, and have the fulfillment done both quickly and locally.

The marketplace has products under 6 distinct verticals across 500+ categories and covers more than 20000 products.

[caption id="attachment_102042" align="alignleft" width="217"] MV Praveen - Founder, Demoport [/caption]Founded by MV Praveen in 2014, Demoport was launched in June this year and the startup already has 105 Sellers Onboard, 4-5 national brand partnerships. Further, it gets a decent 10-15 bookings per day for demos.

According to the founder, the reason for the great response is the fact that Demoport is a unique platform that enables a pre-sales engagement between the buyers and sellers. In addition to this, it also allows buyers to get their queries clarified and sellers to understand the buyers' requirements and recommend the right products.

Owned and operated by KORGEN Technologies (P) Limited, Demoport is currently bootstrapped and aims to become a leading online marketplace in the country.

Demoport services are presently available in over 200 Tier I and Tier II cities across India.The company plans to cover more cities and establish a robust national footprint by the end of 2016.

Bro4U Is New Hyperlocal Open Marketplace For Almost Every Household Services

Didn't you always needed a friend/person on whom you can completely depend on and ask for favours? Someone who would understand all your feelings and needs and get them completed even before you get home from office? Well, if you have desired any of the two things mentioned above, then, viola, a Bengaluru based startup called Bro4Uhas answered all your wishes.

Bro4U is a first of its kinds open marketplace for service. They not only just book services for their customers but also stay with them until the job is fully completed. Their services includes, Purohits Booking, Plumbers, Carpenters, Electricians, Car Wash, Water Tank Cleaning, Painters, Home Cleaning, Cakes and flower delivery, Pan card and Passport consultants etc.

By providing real time data to its customers, Bro4U has been able to service more than 2,300 satisfied customers within just 3 months of its Beta launch. The figure holds testimonial to the customers confidence in the startup.

The startup is lead by it founder Pramod Hegde, an MBA graduate with 3 years of experience in Asset Management Advisory in State Street Corporation. He's currently leading Bro4u team in terms of planning, overall product development, and other areas.

With Bro4U, the founders main aim is to provide real time data to the customers and help local service providers get their due by providing them maximum exposure through a detailed listing on the platform.

With a vision of becoming the single largest technology platform globally for wide variety of services, the currently bootstrapped startup is considering raising funds and is in talks with various Angles and Early Stage Investors for the same.

Currently, operational in Bangalore only, the startup's immediate plans include entering the competitive Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad markets and adding more service categories to its service.

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