Dukaan App has recently raised $6 million in a Seed funding round which was led by Lightspeed India and Matrix. Dukaan is a start-up that helps local store owners to sell their products online to a much larger audience i.e. basically all of India.
Roundabout 13 well-known angel investors also participated in this seed funding round including founders and CEOs of Product Hunt- Jitendra Gupta, Viacom 18- Ryan Hoover, Razorpay- Shashank Kumar, Cred- Kunal Shah, network 18- Haresh Chawla.
According to our sources, Dukaan intends to use this new funding in expanding its operations and spreading the branches of its digital footprints to reach more and more sellers from across the country. In addition to this, the company also aims to expand their services to over 60 million Small and medium-sized merchants across various categories such as Consumer Goods, Books, Grocery, Electronics, fashion and other professional services.
Dukaan is a very innovative business idea as it is based on DIY services. Before you start wondering the full form of DIY, let me tell you what it means.
DIY is a short form for “Do IT Yourself”, Yes! This platform allows small and medium-sized sellers who we are assuming is a complete newbie into digital space and have absolutely zero knowledge about programming, to set up their unique online store. The setup is fairly easy and once done, the user will get a specific link for his “Dukaan” which he/she can share across all social media platforms to spread the word and for promotions.
Dukaan founder- Suumit Shah stated that his mission for the company is to allow every small retailer and merchant to grow his/her business online without having to worry about technology. Digital platforms these days are very powerful and can yield great results.
With support from Lightspeed India and Matrix, Dukaan will be able to reach more people and this brings the company closer to its mission.
COVID-19 pandemic and the following lockdown in India has successfully transitioned India to digital platforms. This boost has enabled over 2.9 million merchants and sellers to join Dukaan and sell all over India.
During the lockdown, only essential item stores were open and Kirana Stores were one of them. This opportunity grabbed the attention of online retailers like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon, Paytm mall and others and they have been reaching out to partner with local Kirana stores to deliver essential products and daily grocery.
