An app that provides real time information on availability of products, be they medicines, groceries or mobiles, from a number of shops dealing in them and also home-delivers what you order within 60 minutes is the latest from the start-up space in the city.
Mapprr, the app, is all about convenience for customers, more business for retailers, big and small, as well as a platform for brands to reach the store shelves, says Aruna Subhakar, founder and CEO of Bharathi Tech Services.
It is all about innovation in hyperlocal market along with specialised services that makes all the difference, he said about the first product of the company. Mapprr began as a product discovery portal giving information to the users on what is available where, across cities.
From there, Mr. Subhakar decided to sharpen the focus by giving information live about products on the shelves at various stores or, in other words, placing the inventory with the retailers before prospective customers.
Delivery was added next, based on customer feedback, he says, adding the team behind Mapprr comprises 25 people in the back-end and 78 delivery staff. There are plans to add 100 more delivery boys. Apollo, Medplus, Ratnadeep, The Body Shop, Nykaa, HealthKart, NewU, Sangeeta Mobiles, Big C and LOT Mobiles figure in the list of companies with which the company has tied up.
Expansion plans
Beyond Hyderabad — where Mapprr delivery area covers from Financial District to Panjagutta — the company plans to foray into Bengaluru next, followed by Delhi. At present, Mapprr has around 1.5 lakh customers and about 1,500 stores. Daily, around 800 customers order products and the average cart value is ₹750, he said.
Discussions were under way with a few leading venture capital and PE firms to raise $5-7 million, something, he expected, to materialise within three months. Thus far, the investment made on the venture is ₹7 crore, he said, adding talks were also on with a few high networth individuals.
Overtime, Mapprr, he said, could help several entrepreneurs reach their products to the retailers. Besides serving as a B2B connect, it could also emerge as a delivery partner for retailers, thus providing them more time to focus on their core business.