Business

A StartUp that made the Local Kirana Stores stand in front of the Global e-Commerce Majors

Published

6 years ago

April 20, 2020

Indians have been traditionally relying on neighborhood stores (Kirana store) for food. The strong presence, network and overall personal level relationship establish them very deep in Indian society. Neighborhood stores are as old as this country is and still both partners are fulfilling the desire, need and expectations of each other but with the advancement of technology, the use of Smartphone and emergence of E-commerce local grocery stores are losing its charm.

A computer engineering graduate Mannu Jha, who born in a family that lives on the earning of small Kirana shop in the remote village of Bihar, when saw that old hubs of grocery shopping are losing its charm and relevancy due to emergence of E-commerce and Superstores as well as inadaptability of traditional Kirana store with technology and new trends. He decided to re-establish local Kirana once again and come up with a StartUp that incarnate Age-old Mom-Dad shop digitally to save the ancient shopping heritage, a StartUp that made local grocery stores stand in front of the global e-commerce majors.

Mannu reveals their agenda and state “I want a StartUp that incarnate Age-old Mom-Dad shop digitally to save the ancient shopping heritage and made local Kirana Stand in front of the global giants.”

Customer Application

Germination of Idea

It was summer of 2019, Mannu is busy in his regular business stuff but every businessman is, first of all, a family man. No matter what you are, you have to go to buy ration. Mannu also has to dispatch his responsibility and went to a nearby grocery store where he found his old dream to revolutionize the Kirana store. He hanged all his old projects and work in nights to characterize his old dream. Resultantly “OkkJi” came into existence.

“I just want to tune old Kirana store according to new age and provide them a digital look that they cannot bear alone. I also want to uplift the additional responsibility like home delivery, documentation from shopkeepers so that they can focus on their business” Mannu explains his motives behind OkkJi.

The litmus test of the feasibility of Idea

Taking any decision is quite easy but implementing it in real is rather tough and complicated. This also happens with Mannu’s conception. So, marathon churning and survey start to know the on-ground feasibility, need and acceptance of the very idea.

Team Okkji criss-cross its first target city “Patna” trice to know the response from shops as well as the customer side. The rich & old retail market and dense population of Patna is a natural choice for us. The potential and future growth of the city also drags us towards it.

They find a very overwhelming response from shops and customers both. The responses of local Mom-dad shops are quite encouraging as they are facing tough competition from Superstore and e-commerce players.

“We just want to know that these thoughts are not just the mind of our mind, are common people also facing similar problems that’s why we have conducted three intense surveys across the city,” Ravi added who look after the research and development.

They get very encouraging responses from buyers and common family persons as they do not want to spend their home weekend in long queues of any supermarket and hesitate to buy groceries from e-commerce but have full faith in their neighbourhood Kirana store.

Kirana Store Application

Journey to the Characterization of OkkJi App

After testing the idea and its on-ground acceptance Team OkkJi they themselves into work to characterize concept OkkJi to App OkkJi.

Mannu along with key members handpick the best professionals to build a perfect team. They hire expert hand for the development of OkkJi App according to their expectations and visualization. Experience and young marketing team take responsibility to convince and associate shops, creative catalogue and inventory develop many sets of catalogue based on the taste of the city and shop’s potential.

Finally, OkkJi App is ready to launch and pre-registration starts with a big hit.

Okkji team

Sudden stroke and additional feather

Mannu and his team are all set to bang traditional grocery shopping mechanisms but the sudden outburst of COVID 19 that suspended all on- ground operation. It was terrible times for a new initiative but team OkkJi takes this break as an opportunity to evaluate and retrospect. Something excellent always comes out of introspection. Team OkkJi also gets some new feather-like OkkJI Fast- A dedicated delivery system, OkkJi direct- A smooth and traffic-free channel for manufacturers and a diverse range of subscription plans as OkkJi Direct.

“Lockdown starts with a sudden calamity for us but after some time we realize that it an opportunity to refine our services and evaluate the whole project” one of them added.

These words represent the dedication and association of members with the project.

Loss becomes gain

Lockdown and COVID outburst stops registration of shops because marketing executives cannot go to shops physically for registration.

In the other hand pre-registration for customers is getting overwhelming response that not only evokes enthusiasm and energy among the team but also inspire to perform the best.

This period advertises the idea in a great way also without even a single penny investment on advertisement as people realise and experience the need and relevancy of home delivery, the importance of neighbourhood Kirana, and inefficiency of Super market. They desperately need a channel that connects common people to neighbourhood Kirana digitally. Shops also realises the importance of digitalization and additional hand in terms of delivery.

“Lockdown, actually establish the demand of digitalization that smoothen our operation and marketing strategy. So, we start registration of shops digitally and get almost 100 stores in our panel. This response made us launch “Beta” phase of App that is quite useful for Retailers.”

With the initial potential and hope of 30000 order delivery in a month, team OkkJi is starting its journey in a royal manner and very Soon industry, as well as people, will hear the thump of its arrival, which has enshrined itself among all kinds of prohibition and Lockdown.

The dedication and zeal to revolutionize old age practice according to the digital era and contemporary technical adaptations is the core of this startup that not only maintain the living heritage of shopping as well as give thrust to individual entrepreneurship along with customers satisfaction.

Business

How Technology Drives Value Creation in Private Equity

Published

3 hours ago

April 29, 2026

Matthew Wiles

How technology drives value creation in private equity is now one of the most actively debated topics among institutional investors and fund managers. A decade ago, technology was largely a cost center in PE-backed companies. Today it sits at the center of margin improvement, revenue growth, and exit multiple expansion. Firms that figured this out early are generating better returns with less reliance on financial engineering.

The shift happened for a practical reason. As interest rates rose and deal multiples compressed, financial leverage stopped doing the heavy lifting. Operational improvement became the primary value creation lever. Technology accelerated what was possible within the ownership period.

How Technology Drives Value Creation in Private Equity Operations

Operational improvement through technology produces the most measurable results. PE firms apply technology tools to reduce costs, increase throughput, and improve decision-making speed inside their companies.

Digital Process Automation in PE-Backed Companies

Manual processes in back-office and production functions carry real costs. They consume labor, generate errors, and slow down the information flow that management teams depend on. Automation tools eliminate these costs without requiring headcount reductions that disrupt company culture.

The most impactful automation deployments in PE-backed operations include:

Accounts payable and receivable automation that compresses billing cycles and reduces days sales outstanding
Production scheduling software that reduces downtime and improves throughput in manufacturing environments
Inventory management systems that cut carrying costs by aligning purchasing with real-time demand signals
Quality control automation that reduces defect rates and warranty claims in product-based businesses

ZCG Consulting (“ZCGC”) works with companies across industrials, manufacturing, packaging, and consumer products to identify and implement automation programs tied to specific financial outcomes. The approach connects technology investment to measurable margin improvement rather than treating automation as a general upgrade.

Data Infrastructure as a Value Creation Tool

Many PE-backed companies arrive under new ownership with fragmented data systems. Different departments use different tools. Reporting requires manual consolidation. Leadership makes decisions with incomplete information.

Fixing that infrastructure creates immediate value. Integrated data systems give management teams real-time visibility into revenue, cost, and operational performance. That visibility accelerates decisions and surfaces problems before they become material.

James Zenni, founder and CEO of ZCG with over 30 years of capital markets experience, has consistently emphasized that information quality drives investment performance. That view shapes how ZCG approaches technology investment across the companies in its portfolio.

Technology Drives Value Creation in Private Equity Through Revenue Growth

Cost reduction gets most of the attention in PE operational improvement, but technology also drives revenue growth. The mechanisms are different, and they compound differently over a hold period.

E-Commerce and Digital Customer Acquisition

Companies that sell primarily through traditional channels often leave significant revenue on the table. Adding e-commerce capabilities or investing in digital customer acquisition expands the addressable market without proportional cost increases.

PE firms that invest in digital revenue channels generate higher growth rates during the hold period. That growth rate difference translates directly into exit multiple expansion.

Revenue growth technology applications in PE-backed companies include:

E-commerce platform buildouts that open direct-to-consumer channels alongside existing wholesale relationships
Customer relationship management systems that improve retention and increase repeat purchase rates
Digital marketing infrastructure that lowers customer acquisition costs through better targeting and attribution
Pricing optimization tools that identify margin improvement opportunities without volume loss

Technology-Enabled Customer Experience Improvements

Customer retention is cheaper than customer acquisition. Technology investments in customer experience, service speed, and product quality consistency reduce churn. Lower churn produces more predictable revenue. More predictable revenue supports higher exit valuations.

ZCG deploys Haptiq Technologies and Solutions, its 300-plus-person technology division, to support digital transformation across its companies. The platform was founded 20 years ago and manages approximately $8 billion in AUM. It brings implementation resources that most individual companies cannot afford to build internally. That capability gives ZCG’s companies faster access to technology improvements at lower execution risk.

Building Technology Capability Within PE-Backed Companies

Technology investment during the hold period creates value in two ways. It improves financial performance during ownership. It also makes the business more attractive to the next buyer.

Strategic buyers and later-stage PE funds pay premium multiples for companies with modern technology infrastructure. A business with integrated systems, clean data, and digital revenue channels commands a better price. A comparable business running on legacy platforms does not.

The ZCG Team structures technology investment as part of the initial value creation plan for each company. Priorities get set at entry based on the gap between current capability and acquirer expectations.

This pre-sale positioning approach changes how technology investment gets funded and sequenced during the hold period. Projects that improve financial performance and exit readiness simultaneously get prioritized. Projects with long payback periods that do not improve the sale narrative get deferred.

How technology drives value creation in private equity is ultimately about execution discipline. The tools matter less than the clarity of the financial objective each technology investment must achieve.