Listen! Here’s a ‘Doodhwala’ from a virtual milk store

After the ‘Dieselwala’, it’s the turn of a live ‘Doodhwala’!

‘Digitisation’- it’s a much used word in recent times. Here are a few instances from humdrum life that reveals instances of digital reality:

Transferring rent to the flat owner; using Paytm for monthly groceries and movie tickets depending on the debit card for online shopping and the list doesn’t seem to end. What if a live Doodhwala gets added to your fantasies?

Here’s the story of entrepreneurs Aakash Agarwal and Ebrahim Akbari who put shape to their dreams.

In an elaborate tete-a-tete with Gairika Mitra, the duo reveals the secret sauce behind their success. Read on!

The Commencement

Ebrahim and Aakash

Ebrahim and Aakash have been friends since their college days. Common likings, goals and ideas turned them into business partners and the two have been together in business since 2015.

While Ebrahim has spent a considerable period of his life in the Middle East, indigenous Aakash has been associated with premium organisations. The duo thought of building something candid with milk as a commodity.

“The concept of a milkman or a ‘Doodhwala’ cropped up first during the 1800s in England, and came to India much later,” says Ebrahim. After studying the market for a few days, we thought of going ahead with the concept of digitizing the milk delivery system.

The Step Next

We kick-started our venture in 2015 and have been gaining weight with every passing day. Our name signifies that we are dealers with milk. However, we cater to dairy products as well. Talking about milk, it is worth mentioning about the type of products we take care of.

We offer over 70 varieties of milk, including organic, raw and commercial milk. Eggs, bakery, meat, fruits and veggies, health drinks, personal care and hygiene products.

We take good care for the processing too and serve high quality organic milk. Our milk is not pasteurised. We ensure that the nutrients are rich, and our customers get to enjoy the best quality milk.

The Process

The customers visiting our website have to subscribe with us. For the benefit of our customers, we have also developed an app in the same name(Doodhwala). Once the customers visit the website they get to see other items too, and most of the times end up buying that as well.

We serve high quality milk to our customers. It goes through a complex procedure of processing before it reaches our consumers’ homes. Doodhwala is a lot more than just milk. We are experts in dairy products like yoghurt, ghee, curd. Exotic flavours of raw juices fit into the cart as well.

The Uniqueness in Business

We operate on a four-hour cycle from four am to seven am. There is no other player in the market who has digitised the concept of milk. Over the days we have received an overwhelming response from the mob. There has been an 80 per cent customer retention as of now. We hope to escalate it further, says an elated Aakash.

We kick-started in Bangalore and have begun our services in Pune too.

The Financial Perspective

This Bengaluru-based startup has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-series A funding from Tom Varkey, a partner in US-based hedge fund Stonehill Capital.

“We have seen about 20-25 per cent increase in sales with about 3000 deliveries per day. We are confident enough to reach up to 10 to 15000 deliveries per day.”

The Voyage Ahead

The duo aims to have their presence throughout the country. When asked about their plans of expansion abroad, they plan to consider South East Asia as the next option. Before signing off, Agarwal had the following piece of advice for fellow entrepreneurs,

“Most startups fail because they've haven't been tested at an idea level. Don't build products that people don't want inherently.”

Do you think digitization of commodities like milk would be a worthy investment?

We’d like to hear from you.