Quicklly co-founder Keval Raj wants to give South Asian and Indian food lovers across the nation a place to get the groceries and meals they’re craving most.
After the successful completion of a $4 million seed funding round for the Chicago-based startup, he’s right on his way to making that a reality.
Quicklly started in 2017 as Raj and co-founder Hanish Pahwa saw how underserved ethnic markets were in Chicago grocery stores, chief among them South Asian cuisine, and wanted to do something about it.
“It started with a common problem and became a business from there,” Raj said.
Now with more than 300 vendors on its website and more than 250,000 unique South Asian and Indian items available for nationwide and local delivery, Quicklly has grown 11,000% since September 2020.
The company completed a $1.3 million pre-seed funding round last March. This round, led by well known technology investors such as Jam Fund, led Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen; Great North Ventures; Adam Goldenberg and Don Ressler, founders of TechStyle Fashion Group; and Pat Vihtelic, founder of Home Chef, will be used to help further expand the business.
With Quicklly currently offering same-day grocery- and food-delivery for residents of greater Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City/Northern New Jersey, Raj wants to be in at least 30 cities by 2025 with sights set on opening new markets in Seattle and Toronto.
Headquartered at a coworking space in Fulton Market, Raj is happy with the current space and despite plans to grow its current workforce beyond 65 employees, he wants to stay put given how many of his employees are working remotely.
While he sees Quicklly as serving a niche market, the ethnic grocery store has seen tremendous growth in recent years, though Raj thinks the company’s diverse inventory sets it apart.
“In the U.S. itself, it’s a $9 billion industry just for South Asian customers. One of the biggest factors is that the South Asian community is one of the most affluent in the U.S. and they [want] convenience, and that’s what Quicklly is trying to solve,” he said.
Raj said a partnership with grocery delivery and pick-up service Instacart has helped fuel Quicklly's growth.
“We have aggressive expansion in our plan and that’s where we will be allocating and definitely building our team,” he added.
