Doodhwala, a Bengaluru based e-grocery subscription startup, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in its pre-Series A round from Tom Varkey, partner at Stonehill Capital, USA.
The startup delivers over 70 varieties of milk, and also allows users to shop ad hoc everything from meat, vegetables, and fruits to shelf-stable items. Since deliveries are between 4am to 7am, shoppers receive fresh milk and groceries.
It will use the funding raised in the current round to upgrade its technology, further penetrate the market, and grow its team size. The company is also looking to close its Series A round soon.
Commenting about the business, Ebrahim Akbari, Co- Founder, Doodhwala, said,
Doodhwala is set to digitize the milk delivery system. We are the first in Bengaluru to provide fresh farm milk directly to houses. We have achieved this using a hybrid delivery model of part time delivery boys and existing doodhwalas who have a milk delivery network.
The infrastructure of fresh milk delivery in India is haphazard despite high demand and a shortage of supply. This gap makes us essential to milk suppliers and creates dependency on our delivery network. Customer acquisition is also very easy and cheap. Customers love the ease of receiving their daily essentials along with milk, and the comfort of getting in touch with their doodhwala.
Tom Varkey, who invested in the company’s current round, said,
Doodhwala has an exceptional approach to the daily needs market. Their unit economics are healthy, as they have an impressive delivery infrastructure with a 25 percent month-on-month growth rate.
By lowering its delivery costs to Rs 3–5, Doodhwala is uniquely positioned in a sector where lots of E-commerce players are struggling. I am excited about our partnership and look forward to seeing this promising company expand.
Founded in the year 2015 by Aakash Agarwal and Ebrahim Akbari, Doodhwala is progressing steadily with over 1,00,000 monthly deliveries. The startup has expanded operations to Pune while other cities are in its pipeline. The company claims that it will be operationally profitable by the end of 2017.
Aakash Agarwal, co-founder of the company, claims that they have over 80 percent customer retention, and are expecting the figure to increase in the next few months. He further adds that the subscription model is the magic formula for customer loyalty, predictable income, user information and low inventory.