SuperK, a value-first retail chain focussing on small-town India, secured INR 100 crore in a Series B round led by Binny Bansal’s 3STATE Ventures and Mithun Sancheti, with participation from Indian Test captain Shubman Gill and existing investors Blume Ventures and Xeed Ventures.
The funds will be used to significantly increase SuperK’s organisational capacity, including the hiring of the finest individuals in marketing, store operations, category, and growth functions to help the company accelerate its ambitious expansion into newer towns and adjacent categories.
India’s grocery retail business is worth $600 billion, with small towns (Tier-II and below) accounting for more than 80% of the spending. At present, organised retail serves less than 5% of this large industry. This creates a huge potential for trustworthy, tech-enabled formats that can grow effectively in these underserved areas.
SuperK intends to dominate this empty space by establishing a value-first grocery chain similar to Costco, but for small-town India, backed by local franchisees, unique technology, and a devoted customer base. The company currently operates 130 stores in 80+ small towns throughout Andhra Pradesh, with each following a franchisee model.
SuperK has created indigenous POS machines with an in-house retail operating system, a consumer-facing app, and a partner app to streamline daily store operations. Technology is a key differentiator; SuperK is the only offline retailer in the country with complete visibility into customer behaviour, made possible by granular data collection at each purchase. This data enables the corporation to provide personalised offers to each consumer and incentivise franchisees for achieving specified sales results. SuperK’s Gold membership program has significantly increased profitability and customer loyalty, contributing a significant portion of total sales.
SuperK has a distinct advantage in this market owing to its ability to sell to the same clients across many product categories via the same shops and supply chain, boosting wallet share while optimising existing infrastructure. The firm has lately moved beyond groceries into e-commerce, providing budget-conscious families with access to everyday necessities such as mixers, cookers, fans, and coolers, all built on top of its current technology and supply chain infrastructure.
Anil Thontepu, Co-founder of SuperK, said, “Over the last year, we quietly rebuilt our engine — from building our own POS and launching a consumer app, to introducing our flagship membership program, which now drives 75% of sales. With this new capital, we’re ready to take that engine to 300 more towns across AP, Telangana, and Karnataka, bring exceptional talent on board, and build India’s most efficient, value-first retail chain for small-town families.”
Neeraj Menta, Co-founder of SuperK, said, “Binny and Mithun have built companies that changed the way India shops. Their decision to back SuperK is a clear signal that value-first, tech-enabled retail has the potential to go much deeper into Bharat. We’re excited to scale this with discipline and ambition.”
Binny Bansal, 3STATE, added, “SuperK is well-positioned to reimagine retail in deeper Bharat by empowering entrepreneurs from these towns to easily own and operate supermarkets. We’re excited to continue supporting their vision of offering a better grocery shopping experience to small-town customers and back SuperK in their next phase of growth.”
SuperK was formed in 2020 by Anil Thontepu and Neeraj Menta, two BITS Pilani classmates who were both second-time entrepreneurs. Anil managed product and growth at Kaodim, Hike, and Phonepe. Neeraj cofounded Hungerbox and built products for Flipkart and Zeta.
