9090 l l ENTREPRENEUR ENTREPRENEUR l l JJUULY 2019LY 2019
BRIDGING THE
RURAL-DIGITAL DIVIDE
After serving government projects for
over a decade to deliver services for
rural citizens, it was only natural for
Vakrangee founder Dinesh Nandwana
to build a business focused on rural
areas. The Mumbai-based company
was formed at an opportune time when
various state governments were looking
to launch ‘citizen service centres’ across
mofussil regions.
Vakrangee is a unique technology
driven company focused on building
India’s largest network of last-mile
retail outlets to deliver services to the
rural, semi-urban and urban markets.
The Assisted Digital Convenience stores
are called Vakrangee Kendra. Vakrangee
enables residents of the remotest
village to access Amazon assisted online
shopping, use a courier delivery service,
withdraw cash from an ATM and even
buy online medicines from Netmeds.
The Ease Factor
Citing an example of how Vakrangee
has transformed non-urban lives in
India, Anil Khanna, MD and Group CEO,
Vakrangee, says, “Earlier, residents of
Dhanu, a rural area near Mumbai, had
to spend an entire day to go to the bank
and collect their wages. The nearest
bank was 10 km away. Vakrangee has
tied-up with major banks to deliver
banking services from 9 am to 9 pm
all through the week. It has enabled
Aadhaar based-banking, through which
all the transactions are paperless and
biometric-based. And Amazon orders
reach a Nextgen Vakrangee Kendra even
in a Tier VI location.”
Vakrangee is the largest social
equalizer providing assisted digital
reach to all citizens. Those in Tier V
or Tier VI locations have the same
experience and access to services as
citizens in Tier I or Tier II cities, all this
at no extra cost to the customer, adds
Khanna.Franchise Model
Vakrangee earlier had a franchise
network of 45,000+ kendras with
a mixed basket of large, small and
micro non-exclusive outlets to deliver
financial, e-Governance services
and e-commerce products. It aimsto upgrade these existing kendras to
exclusive nextgen Vakrangee Kendras to
have a consistent service and consumer
experience. The company offers franchise
opportunities with investment of just
Rs 8-10 lakh. Rs 3 lakh will be invested
towards the hardware kit which includes
laptop, printer, digital signage, display
monitors, CCTVs and other hardware
equipment. An ATM machine is provided
free of cost on custodian basis. Another
Rs 1-2 lakh goes for interiors and fitouts
as per the design manual of the company.
In addition, the franchisee will need
working capital of Rs 3-5 lakh that will be
deposited in the ATM.
According to Khanna, a mature nextgen
Vakrangee outlet can generate Rs 1 lakh
revenue every month, of which 65-80 per
cent will go to the franchisee and 35-20
per cent to Vakrangee, thus allowing them
to breakeven in 18-24 months.ABOUT
VAKRANGEE
Vakrangee is a technology-driven
company offering the largest network
of last-mile retail points-of-sale with
3,500 stores in 350 districts pan-
India. The brand delivers real-time
BFSI services, and G2C and B2C
services to the underserved rural and
semi-urban markets.FAST FACTS
Vakrangee recently bagged
Guinness World Records title
for the ‘Most stores launched
simultaneously’ with its launch of
1,107 stores.Vakrangee has been awarded the
best ‘Financial Services Retailer
of the Year’ at Indian Retail
Awards 2019.Vakrangee currently has 3,504
Nextgen Vakrangee Kendras
spread across 19 states, 366
districts and 2,186 postal codes.More than 68 per cent outlets are
from Tier V and Tier VI cities.Vakrangee aims to be the world’s
largest franchise network with
over 3 lakh stores by 2024-25.Vakrangee makes life comfortable for those staying away
from metros and cities through its digital services. Its
business model makes for a perfect case study.