335bazaar, a new model of Indian commerce that combines online and offline shopping experiences for a billion Indians, has received seed funding from Village Global, the venture fund backed by some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Reid Hoffman.
The business has two main pillars: 335bazaar experience centres that offer a mall-like experience to Indian consumers at affordable pricing and Social commerce via live streams that use technology to offer live deals, group shopping, and entertainment.
335bazaar is building the future of commerce in India. Today, 90% of Indian retail is unorganized – Shopping Malls in India are unaffordable, and neighborhood stores have poor quality products and no shopping experience. 335bazaar converts unorganized lifestyle stores into 335bazaar experience centres. Taponeel Mukherjee, Co-founder, 335bazaar says, “Our vision is to offer a Billion Indians a great shopping experience through the seamless interaction of the online and offline worlds.”
The company has launched two experience centres: First in Bhogal (South Delhi) and second in MadhuVihar (East Delhi). The company plans to open 100 stores in the next six months across all neighborhood markets in Delhi.
“We believe that 335bazaar is the future of Indian commerce, and we have partnered with the best investors from Silicon Valley to build on our vision”, Poornima Vardhan, Co-founder, 335bazaar says.
“Village is thrilled to back Poornima and Taponeel and to support 335bazaar’s vision in building a new type of retail experience in India. We were impressed by the team’s background and grit, and are excited to see the early success of their stores to date” said Lucas Bagno, Investment Team, Village Global.
About 335bazaar:
Founded in August 2020, 335bazaar is co-founded by Taponeel Mukherjee and PoornimaVardhan.
They have over 13 years of combined Indian retail expertise – from contract manufacturing to distribution across the 50 tier 1,2,3 and 4 cities in India.
Previously, Taponeel advised multiple retail businesses, and Poornima ran a Direct-to-Consumer brand. Poornima and Taponeel are ex-Investment Bankers from New York, Tokyo, and London and hold an MBA degree from Wharton and INSEAD, respectively.
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