In this episode, we have Abhinav Adlakha, part of the investment team at WaterBridge, chatting with Neeraj Menta, co-founder of SuperK. From a single store in Anantapur to now 130+ supermarket stores across Andhra Pradesh, SuperK’s journey has been nothing short of remarkable. Driven by its mission to bring modern retail experiences to Tier 3+ towns in India, SuperK empowers entrepreneurs to easily own and operate supermarkets using its data-driven, tech-enabled operating model. The co-founders of SuperK, Anil and Neeraj, began their adventure in college at BITS Pilani. After graduating, Neeraj was with Future Bazaar, Flipkart and Zeta, before he decided to start SuperK. Anil on the other hand was very bullish on franchising as a business. He tried to scale the multiple growing franchises such as FirstCry, McDonalds, ZoomCar and DriveEasy. Both Neeraj and Anil took inspiration from this concept and set their heart on solving for the modern and general trade industry.
In this episode, we have Abhinav Adlakha, part of the investment team at WaterBridge, chatting with Neeraj Menta, co-founder of SuperK.
SuperK is a franchised grocery retail chain for small towns with a population between twenty thousand and five lakhs. It empowers unorganised kirana stores to offer modern retail experiences to small-town shoppers and allows entrepreneurs to easily own and operate supermarkets using its data-driven, tech-enabled operating model. SuperK started as a single store in Anantapur. Today, it has expanded to 130+ supermarket stores across 80 Tier 3,4,5 towns in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with an ARR of ₹100 Cr.
The co-founders of SuperK, Anil and Neeraj, began their adventure in college at BITS Pilani. After graduating, Neeraj worked with Future Bazaar, Flipkart and Zeta, before starting SuperK. Neeraj's co-founder, Anil, was very bullish on franchising. He tried to scale the multiple growing franchises such as FirstCry, McDonald's, ZoomCar and DriveEasy. Both Neeraj and Anil took inspiration from this concept and set their hearts on solving for the modern and general trade industry.
Key Moments in the episode:
(00:00): Welcoming Neeraj Menta, co-founder of SuperK to S03 E08 of That One Idea podcast
(00:18): Finding a shared passion for building a business in his co-founder, Anil Thontepu
(04:44): Identifying aspirational Bharat's consumer behaviour that kiranas need to fulfil
(08:40): Kirana stores today are the same as they were 30 years ago
(11:22): Iterating on multiple ideas before arriving at a full-stack solution
(14:39): Scaling from a single store to 130 stores across 80+ Tier 3,4,5 towns
(17:13): Raising external capital, from seed to Series A
(21:49): Neeraj's expectations from his investors
(27:31): Building sustainably and frugally, while optimising for the long term
(33:36): The road planned for SuperK
(35:57): Advice for entrepreneurs looking to raise capital
Relevant Links:
WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
SuperK: https://www.superk.in/
Linkedin Profiles:
Neeraj Menta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neerajmenta/
Abhinav Adlakha: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinav-adlakha/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures
You can also listen to this podcast on
Youtube: https://youtu.be/26EL9nuZgmg
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7BeLAja3kTWXWaF6SN3eQD?si=mGvX7ZC4SZeZ1-Su4y0ppg
Apple Podcast: https://rb.gy/iqwoft