Subhash Choudhary and Suumit Shah: The Visionaries Behind Dukaan’s Remarkable Journey

In April, amid the challenges and uncertainties of lockdown, Suumit Shah received a perplexing WhatsApp message from an anonymous number. It wasn’t the message itself that was strange, but rather its content and origin. The sender turned out to be a local retail store owner from Indiranagar, Bengaluru, desperately trying to sell Jockey underwear using a rudimentary PDF format. The message contained a list of available items, and it implored, “Please have a look at the PDF and let me know which one you want to buy.”

Shah, a seasoned serial entrepreneur, was not bewildered by the fact that the shopkeeper knew his underwear brand preference. Instead, he was astonished by the antiquated method the shopkeeper employed to sell his products. This incident ignited a spark in Shah’s entrepreneurial spirit, setting the stage for the birth of Dukaan, an innovative solution to empower offline merchants to transition into the digital realm.

Suumit Shah’s professional journey began as a digital marketing manager at the online realty firm Housing in 2014. Over the years, he worked with startups like TinyOwl and went on to found two of his own ventures: RiseMetric, a digital marketing agency, and Rankz, a content marketing platform. The encounter with the local shopkeeper’s primitive sales approach served as the catalyst for a groundbreaking idea: to create a simple solution for bringing offline businesses online. This idea materialized as Dukaan, which Shah co-founded with Subhash Choudhary in June.

Dukaan’s founders were determined to streamline the onboarding process for small merchants, making it accessible to individuals with minimal tech backgrounds. Shopkeepers could sign up on the app, receive a one-time password (OTP), and then proceed to create their online storefront by adding products. Each seller would obtain a unique link to showcase their offerings. This intuitive approach removed the complexity typically associated with going digital and allowed businesses to embrace e-commerce effortlessly.

The pivotal moment that validated Dukaan‘s concept arrived within a week of its launch. A 60-year-old individual ventured into the world of e-commerce by opening an online shop on Dukaan, specializing in selling goats! This unexpected success story cemented the founders’ belief in the platform’s potential. As the platform gained traction, a chorus of support began to resonate, with numerous angel investors, industry leaders, and venture capital firms lining up to endorse Dukaan.

In just four months after its inception, Dukaan secured $6 million (approximately Rs 44 crore) in seed funding. Matrix Partners and Lightspeed India Partners led the round, while over a dozen prominent angel investors, including Ryan Hoover, founder of Product Hunt; Jitendra Gupta, founder of Jupiter; and Shashank Kumar, founder of Razorpay, contributed to the fledgling venture’s impressive debut.

Tarun Davda, the Managing Director at Matrix India, explained the rationale behind the VC fund’s early support for Dukaan. The COVID-19 pandemic had accelerated the need for offline shopkeepers to transition to the digital landscape, and Dukaan emerged as the much-needed solution. It aimed to digitize millions of Indian merchants, empowering them to take their businesses online. Small enterprises embraced technology as a means of survival, and Dukaan’s promising start was a testament to its impact.

A year later, with just three months into monetization, Dukaan embarked on its pre-Series A funding round, securing an additional $11 million in September. This round was led by 640 Oxford Ventures and featured the participation of existing investors such as Snow Leopard Ventures, Lightspeed Partners, and Matrix Partners. Several new names, including Venture Catalyst, HOF Capital, Old Well Ventures, LetsVenture, Oyo’s Ritesh Agarwal, and Carl Pei, co-founder and CEO of Nothing, joined the growing list of believers in Dukaan’s potential.

What sets Dukaan apart is its impressive growth rate. Approximately 3.5 million merchants have set up stores on Dukaan’s platform, resulting in an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $700,000 (Rs 5.1 crore). The company projects revenue of $10 million (Rs 73 crore) over the next 12 months. Dukaan’s monetization journey, which began with a small merchant base, has evolved to include big brands and retailers such as Nivea and BigBazaar. Over 2,000 merchants have enrolled in Dukaan’s premium subscription plan, contributing to 10% of the revenues.