City entrepreneur creates grocery app for smaller cities

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Some companies start in garages, some in hostels. For Sumanth Koripella, an entrepreneur, the journey from hostel room to an office took a couple of years, and every step was worthwhile. He founded his digital marketing company, Tag Digital, at a paying guest in Madhapur. Armed with nothing but his belief in himself and support from family, he started getting projects. Since he did not have an office to meet his clients,  he used to meet them at coffee shops and clinch deals.

This June, cashing in on the need for doorstep delivery of groceries during Covid-19 pandemic, Sumanth launched Fresh Basket, an app that delivers goods in tier-1 and tier-2 cities. Right now, they operate in Rajahmundry,  but will soon start working from other cities like Nizamabad, Kakinada and Kurnool.
Talking to Express, Sumanth says: “Though home delivery services are seamless in big cities, the smaller cities do not have these facilities. This pandemic had made it difficult for everyone to step out, especially the elderly. Most of my customers are living abroad, who order groceries for their parents living these cities. “ With the tagline, ‘Love local, love farmer,’ Fresh Basket procures vegetables directly from farmers. They have tied up with Farmer Production Organizations, which sell their own products without middlemen. Apart from that, the startup has a mission to showcase the talent of women, especially housewives, who do not have any platform to sell their products.

“Recently, a woman who wanted to sell her homemade pickles approached me. We are also selling chocolates made by another girl. In addition to that, we are trying up with a woman’s organization that sells homemade soaps, cleaners and sanitary pads,” adds Sumanth.In future, he wants to add regional specialties like Rajahmundry sugar and Araku coffee to the line of products.

The founder also plans to tap the generic medicine market. “Generic medicines are much cheaper than branded ones, but they are not available easily. I want to start doorstep delivery of these medicines. “
This entrepreneur, who started alone, has a 5-member team now. Tag Digital’s first big client was Ten Downing Street, and then there was no looking back.  Sumanth, who studied animation too, dreams of becoming a film director one day. But before that, he wants to walk in the footsteps of Ratan Tata to create a business model that combines profits and ethics.

— Kakoli Mukherjee
kakoli_mukherjee@newindianexpress.com
@KakoliMukherje2

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