Startups take DMart route to small towns

Retail chains with technology-led operations have caught the eye of VCs

- Sowmya Ramasubramanian

Last week, India's test cricket captain Shubman Gill was part of a ₹100-crore investment into a supermarket chain that counts Kadapa, a small city in Andhra Pradesh with a population of under 500,000, as its biggest market.

Superk, which sells groceries at affordable prices similar to that at DMart, Vishal Mega Mart, and Reliance Retail's Smart Bazaar, attracted other marquee investors as well—Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal's 3State Ventures, and CaratLane founder Mithun Sacheti.

Other similar value-retail chains Apna Mart, Citykart and Aap ka Bazar that are focused on small-town India and have quick-commerce and technology-led operations at their core have also caught the eye of venture capital investors.