Krave Mart, a Karachi-based quick-commerce startup delivering groceries, has raised $6.25 million in funding from Y-Combinator, JAM Fund, Rebel Fund, DeCart Ventures, ru-Net, and Zayn VC.
Tell me more: Krave Mart uses dark stores to deliver groceries. A dark store is a retail facility like a conventional supermarket but is not open to the public and is only used to fulfill orders placed online.
It operates 20 dark stores across Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi. Apart from delivering 3rd party brands, it also sells white-label products.
White-label products are manufactured by one company and then rebranded by another company.
By the Numbers: Krave Mart claims:
- 150 SKUs, including spices, lentils, and personal care items, are available under the white-label brand.
- 30% of orders include white-label products.
- Profitability across 90% of stores.
- Gross margins of 30%+
You should know: Krave Mart was founded by Kassim Shroff, Hammad Bawany, Haziq Ahmed, and Ahsan Kidwai in 2021.
So far, it has raised $12.25 million in disclosed equity funding. It raised $6 million in 2021, the largest pre-seed round at the time.
Also, this fresh round of funding is not so fresh. Krave Mart closed the $6 million last year but decided not to announce it. And I am told they finally decided to announce once they received the entire amount this year.
What they are saying:
From Day 1, it was important for us to start a business that makes money, has real margins, and most importantly makes sure our bottom line is becoming green.
Co-founder and CEO Kassim Shroff
The Krave Mart team has demonstrated exceptional perseverance, showcasing their expertise in navigating the unpredictable nature of business cycles.
Faisal Aftab, General Partner at Zayn VC
Zoom Out: At the time of the pre-seed round, Krave Mart had plans to expand to 10 cities across Pakistan by Q1 of 2022 – that never happened.
It also wanted to set up operations in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh – also never happened.
With this new round of capital, it hopes to maintain its market share and remain a key player in Pakistan’s online grocery market.
