KiranaPro launches in Kerala: Q-commerce app for kirana stores to take on giants Instamart, Zepto and Blinkit

In a bid to take on quick commerce with a kirana-friendly version, seasoned entrepreneurs Deepak Ravindran and Dipankar Sarkar launched their home-grown offering KiranaPro at Thrissur in Kerala today. With its successful pilot runs in Bengaluru, KiranaPro is aiming to take advantage of the vast network of retail stores. The co-founders are looking to move diametrically opposite to the existing “dark store” model followed by q-commerce giants Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Zomato’s Blinkit.

“With this ONDC-enabled strategic expansion, KiranaPro is set to redefine the quick commerce landscape in the southern city, enhancing consumers’ shopping experience by delivering essential products in just 10 minutes,” the company said in a statement.

KiranaPro announced Thrissur as its new headquarters. “With its new headquarters, which will also serve as a city office, in Thrissur, the quick commerce firm is looking to strengthen its presence in the southern state of Kerala. This new city office will be able to accommodate 50 to 100 employees within the next five years,” it said.

How does KiranaPro work, and how do you order?

Once you download the app (on iOS or Android app stores) and register using your contact number, you can enter your address. “If your location has KiranaPro, then you can give it a voice command,” explained Deepak Ravindran, CEO and co-founder of KiranaPro.

With your voice command, you can order things from your closest kirana stores (brick-and-mortar provisional stores around your vicinity). For instance, if you order “one packet of rice, one packet of Maggi, one packet of milk”, the order will be broadcast to nearby kirana stores, he added.

If a kirana has the products in stock, they will respond on the app. Then, the user can select it and complete the transaction, confirming the order. “It is very much like booking an Uber,” he said.

Once the order is packed, KiranaPro uses a logistics partner to securely deliver the order.

Using AI to connect with kirana stores

Unlike other q-commerce apps, KiranaPro heavily relies on the Made-in-India proprietary AI called “Shoonya”.

“Shoonya is an AI module that we created in-house,” said Ravindran, doubling down on the fact that KiranaPro is not dependent on any other mass market Gen AI models such as ChatGPT or Gemini.

The entrepreneur termed this proprietary AI technology specifically made for e-commerce models as Artificial General Intelligence for Commerce or AGIC. It is currently being patented.

Bright stores to take on dark stores

The CEO also introduced its first “bright store” in Thrissur along with the Kerala launch. According to him, the bright store functions as a “micro-fulfilment centre” for KiranaPro’s 10-minute delivery promise. “Unlike dark stores,” Ravindran said, “bright stores are open to walk-in customers, providing a seamless shopping experience at any time of the day or night.”

Ravindran has been a long-time critic of the dark store concept where customers do not see where their products come from. The current model of quick commerce is also harmful to brick-and-mortar small businesses like neighbourhood kirana stores, because most apps directly source the products, cutting out a marginalised economy that works solely on retail sales.

“Till the e-commerce boom, kirana stores were doing good. But since they couldn’t adapt quickly to a major leap in technology, they fell short,” Ravindran explained. It took UPI systems for them to get their hold on the evolving technology around them, and with KiranaPro, Ravindran and company look to bring these stores to the latest commercial landscape.

Groceries at Re 1? KiranaPro introduces ‘cheat codes’ at launch

To celebrate the Kerala launch and the introduction of its first bright store in Thrissur, KiranaPro announced “cheat codes”—its take on offers and discounts to customers.

For the first 100 customers across India, where KiranaPro operates, they can purchase groceries for just Re 1 for orders below Rs 300 using the cheat code “RS1”, Ravindran said.

“Company consumers in Thrissur can also avail the lucrative discount through the code THRISSURPOORAM,” he added, referring to the famous festival held in the cultural capital of the state.

From SMS tech to AI-based q-commerce

Deepak Ravindran is part of an early generation of young startup entrepreneurs.

After dropping out of college, Ravindran kickstarted his journey as a tech disruptor with SMSGyan—which Insider called the “world’s largest offline search engine”, in 2013. That year, the entrepreneur introduced his “offline Google” for basic feature phones from Innoz, the startup he co-founded, at an online keynote address to a packed audience at the Wired summit.

Deepak Ravindran kickstarted his journey as a tech disruptor with SMSGyan

Ravindran then went on to co-found Quest, a service which helped users find answers to questions about services and businesses near them. Later, he went on to build Lookup, an India-based chat service to connect consumers with local businesses. Lookup, which even raised funds from Khosla Impact, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures, and Global Founders Capital, was later acquired by business discovery service NowFloats.

All of these services Ravindran was involved in carry a message of connecting consumers to products and services they need. With KiranaPro, the now-seasoned entrepreneur looks to do the same, as he takes on giants and their dark stores.