We Aim To Impact 100,000 + Food Businesses Globally: Kushang- Co-founder & CEO, SupplyNote

1.Brief us about your business model like how did the idea came to start and how does it work (step by step procedure)?

The co-founders – Kushang-CEO, Abhishek Verma-COO, Nitin Prakash-CPO and Harshit Mittal-CTO  had an initial idea of helping brands run trackable BTL (offline advertisements) using food packaging items as the medium. While working closely with F&B businesses, they discovered the bigger challenges that F&B businesses were facing. Hence, the startup underwent a 360 degree change to address a larger purpose.  The team then turned towards delivering food packaging material to these restaurants using their own B2B e commerce platform. Gradually, they realized that the problem lies in the process of procurement, more than the discovery. As a solution to the same, they launched the SAAS platform- SupplyNote which digitized the entire procurement process and automated steps like inventory management, digital ordering, payment ledger management and supplier/product discovery.

2.What are the unique key points of your company?

Launched in 2019, SupplyNote provides a Cloud based web and mobile enabled suite connecting restaurant outlets, service providers and suppliers. It offers three distinct segments of services- 

• Cloud based software for managing inventory, procurement and production. This solution helps restaurant monitor the inventory as per the average requirement of the outlet. Thus, avoiding any sort of wastage and reducing the cost of operations.
• Warehouse and logistics solution. This segment would address all sorts of logistics requirements for the business. The business doesn’t have to look out for a separate partner, thus avoiding any hassles.
•  E-commerce (food packaging, housekeeping, groceries etc). Day today requirements of the food businesses like procuring material, groceries and connecting with the right suppliers can be managed through this one platform.

3.How are you different from the existing competitors?

SupplyNote is a new concept. And we are providing our solution to food and beverage industry, specifically. There is no other solution that caters to the array of requirements like ours does. Ours is the one platform that addresses all the nitty gritty of a restaurant business.

4.What is the funding status and monetization model?

We have raised close to USD 1.60 mn so far . Prior to the latest bridge round worth USD 600K we had already raised 3 rounds (seed of $115 K , bridge of $335 k and $550k pre-series A).

The monetization model is very simple. We sell annual license of our platform to the food and beverage outlets. We charge around INR 20,000 per outlet, per year. Apart from this, we also earn by providing other value-added services like, warehousing and logistics to our clients. 

5.What challenges are you facing in running your business?

One major challenge in this field is the lack of talent when it comes to technology sales. In a startup, the primary requirement is to have the right team and quality work force. However, we understand that challenges are part and parcel of the entrepreneurial journey. It takes a little time for us to acquire talents, but then the wait is mostly worth it.

6.How has been the people`s response so far?

We have received an overwhelming response for the solution. Over the period we have witnessed a 150% YoY growth. We continuously take our clients’ feedback to ensure that we are on track with our solution and offerings. 

7.What are the traction details (like users, app downloads & other achievements of the company)?

We have already impacted 1200+ outlets across India and our mission is to impact 100,000 + food businesses globally in the next 5 years.  

8.How do you look at expansion?

Currently, it is just the beginning. During COVID 19 the restaurant industry was among the most hit sectors. Most of the outlets are looking out for solutions that would help them recover, streamline procedures again and make more money. Our solution just becomes more relevant than ever. We aim at widening our wings across the country and then going global.

9.What are your marketing plans?

We are currently focusing on building our market presence using performance marketing and branding activities. As pandemic has changed consumer behaviour drastically, we are focusing more upon digital marketing than the BTL activities. We are also focusing on establishing SupplyNote as a brand, to build trust among the F&B industry and educate the industry about the need and the advantages of technology in their backend operations.

10.What has been the biggest learning’s so far?

We had a very different idea of what we were going to build initially. Gradually, market feedback, opinion, identification and findings together carved a new road for us. This helped us realised that what matters the most is not what you want to serve, but what your clients actually need. Since then, clients’ feedback and monitoring their requirement has become the foundation of our solution, advancement and expansion.

11. What is the market size and opportunity?

The size of restaurant industry in India is estimated at 4.2 lakh crore INR. And 35 per cent of this fall under the organised sector category. It is anticipated that the following one year is going to be most critical for the sector. Especially the dining restaurants. Also, another major is that, this ‘one year’ is going to be transformative for the industry. This is exactly the time when the entire sector will witness the digital transformation. Hence, we see a lot of scope  for the startup and our offering.