How this social commerce platform is instilling empowering the local community- Following the entrepreneurial journey of Frendy

• ByStartupStory     |    February 21, 2022

“Grocery is a $1 Trillion market by 2025. It’s not a winner take all market and so many formats will thrive. Just like a Kirana shop really does not see another kirana shop down the road as competition we don’t really see ourselves compete so much as we see ourselves improving against our previous month’s performance on all metrics,” said Sameer Gandotra, the founder and CEO of Frendy in an exclusive interview with Startup Story Media.

With the rise in technology and the use of the internet, a multitude of e-commerce start-ups have emerged. While e-commerce sites have made it easier for consumers to procure products without secondary hassles, they are not free from challenges. Most e-commerce websites are generic in nature and do not offer a personal touch, thus lacking the factor of trust. In an attempt to cater to the indigenous market and inculcate the factor of trust amongst the e-commerce segment, Frendy was conceived.

Founded in July 2020, Frendy is a social e-commerce platform that encompasses all essential retail categories. The start-up aims to connect the Tier 3-6 cities in the country with the e-commerce segment by connecting them with their local micropreneurs which allows them to fulfil their essentials’ requirement thus inculcating the ‘personal touch’ yearned by Indian consumers.

Instilling the essence of Bharat

Born in Calcutta, the founder of Frendy, Sameer Gandotra garnered years of experience prior to establishing his own venture. An MBA from Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, Sameer worked closely in the oil and gas industry following his graduation. His love for entrepreneurship enabled him to establish his first venture Aavas which focused mainly on real estate. Following his learning and exposure from his previous venture, Sameer then sailed on to develop something which served the community and thus the concept of Frendy came into being.

Talking about the story of inception of Frendy, Sameer said, “At Aavaas by Nebula I saw first-hand the power of ‘Trust Commerce’ as we scaled a network of micropreneurs who used their social referrals to sell over Rs. 1,500 Cr (or 5,000) of affordable homes under our development. We not only served the dream of owning a home for the aspiring class of Bharat but also won their trust on what is the most important purchase decision of their lives. Having won Trust on ‘Makaan’ we decided to leverage our understanding of Bharat’s aspiration, ‘Trust Commerce’ into other consumer categories such as ‘Roti’ and ‘Kapda’ (Food & Clothing) supercharged with the power of digital technology. Thus, Frendy was founded out of the success of our previous venture.”  

Empowering the community

Based upon the concept of ‘Trust Commerce’, Frendy set out to serve the local communities of India and inculcate the essence of Bharat within the e-commerce segment. While establishing this venture, a major problem that was identified was the lack of personal touch and trust amongst the e-retailer and the client. To eradicate that hindrance, Frendy came up with a plan to partner up with local micropreneurs, majorly women who would be present in close proximity to the client to ensure that the individual is a known face. This allowed them to establish accountability, which was an omitted factor in conventional e-commerce platforms.

Talking about the functionality of the start-up and the method of operation of the same, Gandotra expressed, “We spoke to several users in Tier 3 -6 markets to understand their ecommerce usage and understood that it was almost non-existent when it came to product purchase. The 500 m new Internet Users from India’s Tier 2-6 Towns need to know the person they are buying from and hold accountable in case of any problems. They need assistance & personal interactions in their local language when making a purchase decision or during the transaction. This is absent in Ecommerce leading to a trust deficit.

The Frendy WEcommerce model is building a digital supermarket for every Bharat community where users can Shop with Trust from a Friend. The Frendy Partner is typically a woman homepreneur from the neighbourhood. She educates friends, neighbours & relatives of the price benefits, variety & convenience of buying on Frendy and easily helps them come online. Customers get all the information on deals, offers & products on the WhatsApp groups run by their Frendy Partners. Frendy Partners also recommend products & are ready to answer any Customer queries in their preferred local language. Customers can be assisted to place orders easily via the Frendy Partner. They can also slowly learn from the Frendy Partner how to order online therefore enabling themselves. The Frendy Partners perform last mile delivery, collect payments and benefit from the monetary incentives. If there are any issues with the product the Customer can easily get it resolved by contacting the Frendy Partners instead of having to deal long distance with Customer Care departments.”

Frendy is unique as it provides Social & Trust along the entire customer journey. The start-up primarily focuses on women partners as digital commerce is well-suited to female entrepreneurs in our country because it gives them the flexibility to balance their personal and entrepreneurial life as it does not affect their household chores.

Funding and expanding ‘Main se Hum’

A strong believer of the power of local communities, Frendy was initially bootstrapped for more than a year. Following June, the start-up was fortunate enough to bag an angel round from Family Offices and VCs. The start-up is now in talks to raise a Series A round of $5 million and would be closing the same in the coming two months.

Commenting upon the fundraising aspect of the start-up, Sameer said, “We invested our own money in the first year and a half till we reached Product Market Fit. The Pre-Series A funding round of Rs. 10 Crores has been led by Pavitar Singh (CTO Sprinklr) Abhishek Khurana (SVP Product Engineering, Sprinklr) and Desai Family Office (Investor in Infibeam, Licious, PetPooja, PeeSafe etc). We are in the final stage of discussions with several investors to close its Series A round of Rs.30 Cr in the next few months.”  Frendy has been in stealth mode and operational in 20+ Tier 2-6 Towns of Gujarat. The platform has scaled rapidly to 3000 Frendy Partners & 4,000+ products on the platform growing 30% every month & is on track to reach an ARR of Rs. 300 Crore in the next financial year.

In the next 12 months the company plans to enter Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and a few states in Eastern India. The social e-commerce platform is also piloting fresh produce in certain towns as well as developing their own private label range of beauty and personal care products which would enable the start-up to bring in higher margins and commissions for Frendy Partners.

A word for entrepreneurs

When asked to give a word of advice to the budding entrepreneurs, Sameer Gandotra remarked, “Start Ups are hard. Do it for the right reason and not because start-ups are the flavour of the day in the current environment. Some young entrepreneurs will need to gain some experience before they can build long lasting companies. Build a good team and culture. In the long run that’s what will help in navigating the problems. Do find a balance – enough sleep, some form of physical activity and a hobby that helps you take your mind off the fast pace of your start-up are important to help you rejuvenate and be charged when you come in to face the challenges of work every day.”

With a clear strategy and the support of Bharat in hand, Frendy is all set to spread its vision of ‘Main se Hum’ across the globe.

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