Latest news with #DeepakRavindran
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Grocery startup KiranaPro hit by cyberattack; servers wiped
KiranaPro, the grocery delivery startup has been hit by a severe cyberattack. Deepak Ravindran , the CEO of KiranaPro has confirmed to TechCrunch that the cyberattack on the company led to complete deletion of its servers. The cyberattack has affected the operations of company and has also led to huge loss of data. As per the report, some malicious gained unauthorized access to KiranaPro's digital infrastructure. In a catastrophic blow, the perpetrators proceeded to wipe out the company's servers, effectively deleting all stored data and bringing its services to a halt. What KiranaPro CEO Deepak Ravindran said about the cyberattack The company's CEO, Deepak Ravindran, confirmed the breach, calling it a 'deliberate and personal' told TechCrunch that the cyberattack has managed to destroy the company's app code and its servers which consisted of sensitive customer information, including their names, payment details and address. After the cyberattack, the company's online app is also not able to process orders. The startup, which operates on the Indian government's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), had been serving 55,000 customers across 50 cities, facilitating 2,000 orders daily. Executives discovered the breach on May 26 when attempting to log into their AWS account. Hackers had gained access to root accounts on AWS and GitHub, bypassing security measures, including multi-factor authentication. Ravindran suggested that the attack may have been carried out by a former employee, as logs indicate unauthorized access through an ex-staffer's credentials. The company is now pursuing legal action against individuals who failed to return their GitHub access credentials.
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Grocery Startup KiranaPro hit by cyberattack; servers wiped
KiranaPro, the grocery delivery startup has been hit by a severe cyberattack. Deepak Ravindran , the CEO of KiranaPro has confirmed to TechCrunch that the cyberattack on the company led to complete deletion of its servers. The cyberattack has affected the operations of company and has also led to huge loss of data. As per the report, some malicious gained unauthorized access to KiranaPro's digital infrastructure. In a catastrophic blow, the perpetrators proceeded to wipe out the company's servers, effectively deleting all stored data and bringing its services to a halt. What KiranaPro CEO Deepak Ravindran said about the cyberattack The company's CEO, Deepak Ravindran, confirmed the breach, calling it a 'deliberate and personal' told TechCrunch that the cyberattack has managed to destroy the company's app code and its servers which consisted of sensitive customer information, including their names, payment details and address. After the cyberattack, the company's online app is also not able to process orders. The startup, which operates on the Indian government's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), had been serving 55,000 customers across 50 cities, facilitating 2,000 orders daily. Executives discovered the breach on May 26 when attempting to log into their AWS account. Hackers had gained access to root accounts on AWS and GitHub, bypassing security measures, including multi-factor authentication. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Ravindran suggested that the attack may have been carried out by a former employee, as logs indicate unauthorized access through an ex-staffer's credentials. The company is now pursuing legal action against individuals who failed to return their GitHub access credentials.
TechCrunch
2 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Indian grocery startup KiranaPro was hacked and its servers deleted, CEO confirms
Indian grocery delivery startup KiranaPro has been hacked and all its data has been wiped, the company's founder confirmed to TechCrunch. The destroyed data included the company's app code and its servers containing banks of sensitive customer information, including their names, mailing addresses, and payment details, KiranaPro co-founder and CEO Deepak Ravindran told TechCrunch. The company's app is online but cannot process orders, TechCrunch has found. Launched in December 2024, KiranaPro operates as a buyer app on the Indian government's Open Network for Digital Commerce, allowing customers to purchase groceries from their local shops and nearby supermarkets. KiranaPro has 55,000 customers, with 30,000-35,000 active buyers across 50 cities, who collectively place 2,000 orders daily, according to the company. Unlike a typical grocery delivery app, KiranaPro offers a voice-based interface that allows users to place orders from local shops using voice commands in languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and English. The startup planned to expand to 100 cities in the next 100 days before the incident happened, Ravindran said. On May 26, KiranaPro executives became aware of the incident while logging into their Amazon Web Services account. Hackers had gained access to KiranaPro's root accounts on AWS and GitHub, Ravindran told TechCrunch. Ravindran shared a couple of screenshots of the GitHub security logs and a file containing a sample of activity logs around the time of the incident, suggesting that the hacking happened after someone gained access to their systems via a former employee's account. KiranaPro's chief technology officer Saurav Kumar told TechCrunch that the hack happened around May 24-25. The startup said it used Google Authenticator for multi-factor authentication on its AWS account. Kumar told TechCrunch that the multi-factor code had changed when they tried to log into their AWS account last week, and all their Electric Compute Cloud (EC2) services, which let clients access virtual computers to run their applications, were deleted. 'We can only log in through the IAM [Identity and Access Management] account, through which we can see that the EC2 instances don't exist anymore, but we are not able to get any logs or anything because we don't have the root account,' he said. KiranaPro has reached out to GitHub's support team to help identify the hacker's IP addresses and other traces of the incident, said Ravindran. Similarly, Ravindran told TechCrunch that the startup is filing cases against its former employees, who he said had not submitted their credentials for accessing their GitHub accounts to check their logs. It is unclear how the attack happened. Some of the biggest cyberattacks in recent years, such as LastPass, Change Healthcare, and Snowflake, were caused by credential theft, such as through password-stealing malware installed on an employee's laptop, and missing or unenforced multi-factor authentication. The companies were ultimately responsible for enforcing the security of their own systems, including whether their employees must use multi-factor authentication, and terminating accounts of former employees who no longer work at their company. KiranaPro counts Blume Ventures, Unpopular Ventures, and Turbostart among its institutional venture backers, as well as Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and BCG MD Vikas Taneja among its angel investors. The company has a team of 15 employees located in Bengaluru and Kerala.
Fashion Network
3 days ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Black by KiranaPro acquires Likeo for AR fashion trials
KiranaPro, India's fully ONDC-integrated, AI-powered quick commerce platform, has acquired Likeo, a startup specialising in augmented reality–based virtual try-on technology. The move will integrate Likeo's immersive trial room feature into Black, KiranaPro's fashion commerce platform aimed at Gen Z and tech-savvy consumers. With this development, Black becomes the first app in India to offer AI-powered virtual try-ons across apparel, jewellery, and eyewear, the business announced in a press release. The feature blends interactivity, personalisation, and visual computing, aiming to offer users a frictionless, engaging shopping experience. 'This acquisition is a bold step in our vision to reinvent online shopping in India,' said KiranaPro's founder and chief executive officer Deepak Ravindran in a press release. 'Black is not just an app- it's a cultural movement, and Likeo's tech allows us to give users a mirrorless shopping experience that's deeply personal, fun, and frictionless.' As part of the deal, Likeo's founder and chief executive officer, Saurav Kumar, will join KiranaPro's leadership team to drive innovation in AI and visual computing. The Likeo-powered trial room will begin rolling out on Black in the coming weeks, starting with early access for fashion and accessories. 'Joining KiranaPro to build for Black is the perfect match of vision and velocity,' added Saurav Kumar. 'With Black, we finally have a canvas to scale this to millions- making shopping more playful, expressive, and real.'
Mint
26-04-2025
- Business
- Mint
Indian quick commerce upstarts sidestep expensive dark stores in ONDC push
A few nimble startups are quietly challenging the conventional wisdom of India's quick commerce sector. With government-backed ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) platform as partner, they are shunning costly dark stores in favour of tie-ups with corner shops. Bengaluru-based KiranaPro and Apna Mart, as well as Mumbai's Kiko Live are among those pioneering this asset-light model in India's small towns, aiming for a more sustainable path to quick delivery of an assortment of goods in markets that have proven tough for the larger players to crack. This new cohort of startups is focusing on merchant adoption and integrating neighbourhood retailers into their delivery networks by leveraging ONDC, which is a common digital platform that allows sellers and buyers to connect and do business with each other. It helps different online stores and apps talk to each other. 'The dark store model is not a sustainable quick commerce model," says Deepak Ravindran, founder of KiranaPro, which is primarily operational in non-metro cities. 'There are around 3 lakh (300,000) kiranas on the ONDC network. What they don't have is us — someone who brings traffic." Also read | Traders' Body CAIT Urges Govt to Regulate Quick Commerce The market opportunity in quick commerce is undeniably large, but scaling in this space has historically been a cash-guzzler. It typically requires significant investments in dark stores, IT infrastructure, and operational costs such as logistics and salaries. A dark store in the context of quick commerce is a large warehouse that serves as a fulfilment centre for online orders. The struggles faced by food delivery giants like Zomato in small towns underscore the unique challenges of quick commerce in these regions. Zomato's exit from 225 smaller cities in early 2023 due to subdued performance underlined the difficulties in achieving sustainable and profitable operations. Plus, consumers in small cities and towns are generally more price-sensitive, and are often more accustomed to the pricing and value offered by local kirana stores and markets. KiranaPro initially used a commission-based revenue model, in which it pocketed a percentage of each sale that a kirana store made. But Ravindran says the company is now piloting an ad-based revenue stream with select brands, where brands pay for visibility on the platform. 'Our revenue comes through an ad model, but we also look at the integrity of the products. We don't just sell condoms or cigarettes or paan," he adds. Read this | Quick commerce is on steroids. So, why is Dalal Street not cheering Zomato, Swiggy? On the other hand, Kiko Live is focusing on merchant adoption as a key strategy to scale its operations. Alok Chawla, its founder, noted that 10–15% of business for neighbourhood retailers used to come through home deliveries, typically over WhatsApp or phone calls. That channel, he says, was most disrupted by the rise of dark stores, 'which I believe is an unsustainable model". Kiko Live's revenue model is currently structured around a 5% commission on sales, along with an annual subscription fee. Chawla said that this subscription fee helps cover the costs associated with onboarding, training, and supporting retailers. As for the delivery fees, it is entirely up to the retailer to decide. The effort involved in training sellers will eventually become an autonomous process as the market matures, he believes. 'The dynamics of the business is that 90% of the business comes from the seller's own trusted or loyal customers," he said. Also read | Drone startups looking beyond defence to serve agriculture, quick commerce Apna Mart did not immediately respond to Mint 's request for comment. Apurva Dixit, associate vice-president at investment company Blume Ventures, says that both these models of quick commerce can come to co-exist. However, several challenges persist. "Assortment, I feel, might be a bit of a tricky sort of a situation in the sense that you have to ensure that everything that you're looking for, or a substitute, is present in the shop that you're going to." Assortment in quick commerce refers to the range and variety of commonly-consumed products that customers can order online and have them delivered rapidly. Dixit adds that currently the economics of quick commerce is heavily reliant on more mass premium and premium products, as these help drive up the average order value (AOV), making the model more financially sustainable despite the high costs of rapid delivery. 'Which means that you're probably getting a smaller cut of the AOV than what normal vanilla quick commerce guys do," she added. Read this | Fast and furious: Early-stage startups tweak supply chain operations as they shift to quick commerce lane This reflects the shift from traditional quick commerce models, where the platform owns the entire transaction, to a more marketplace-style set-up, where third-party sellers might be involved, reducing the platform's share of the average order value (AOV). Venture funds tend to be cautious about quick commerce because it needs large upfront investment to scale, making it less capital-efficient than startups that can grow faster with less money, she added. Ashish Kumar, co-founder at Fundamentum, a venture capital firm, echoes the sentiment that multiple models will coexist in the country — while noting that the dominant model in each city will likely depend on factors like geography, category, and population density. Fundamentum's portfolio houses Apna Mart, a grocery retailer focusing on tier 2/3 cities and towns. 'For example, in the food delivery segment, it's harder to pick it up from a third-party store... But in grocery, where you're not manufacturing anything yourself, its easier for you to do it." And read | Quick commerce is a cash-guzzler, but Swiggy is unfazed However, he added that when sourcing from unorganized players (like small local shops), the customer experience tends to suffer because real-time inventory is often unreliable—leading to inefficiencies and poor consumer satisfaction. Kumar added that while most consumers are initially price-sensitive—regardless of income—they tend to become more convenience-focused over time. This evolution reflects how familiarity with services like quick commerce gradually shifts priorities from saving money to saving time.
