3rd July 2020: Gurgaon based retail technology venture Gobbly has raised a seed equity funding of $500,000 from Sauce.vc, an early stage consumer VC fund. Gobbly is in the business of providing convenient and contactless forms of automated retail for categories including farm produce, curated fresh F&B products including meals, snacks, salads, desserts and select packaged third party brand packaged goods. Its first product includes mobile-operated unmanned fridges that allow for hand selection of products with customers being charged electronically from a mobile wallet on closing the fridge door to complete a transaction. These fridges are in demand at residential apartment complexes, offices, educational institutions, etc. The lack of human contact makes it a safe and hygienic alternative to stepping out or ordering in especially given advisories to stay at home during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Gobbly is currently present in office spaces, educational institutions and residential apartments in Delhi NCR region including Gurgaon and Noida.
Gobbly plans to allocate the funds towards development of their technology and marketing initiatives.
Commenting on the funding round, co- founder Amit Ahuja said, “Gobbly is a digital store which allows for instantaneous consumption right where consumers work or reside. The UX is friendly and allows for consumers to co-curate what their local Gobbly store should stock. The device is quick to deploy, space efficient and has a very low capex outlay when compared to traditional forms of retail. It is easily transportable and does not carry traditional location risks of brick and mortar stores.”
Ankur Agrawal, co-founder of Gobbly added, “We are developing a full stack automated retail technology platform with which we intend to improve the overall experience over offline shopping and traditional ecommerce. Lack of decent retail and F&B services in institutions and residential complexes is a big market gap, and we are confident of disrupting this large space through Gobbly, something which is being done in most advanced markets already.”
Manu Chandra, Managing Partner, Sauce.vc commented “Consumerswant personalisation in selection and instantaneous consumption when it comes to fresh food retail. This combined with the convenience of being contactless and digital allows for a seamless and safe shopping experience. Classic ecommerce has limitations of delivery time and costs and the inability to offer real look, touch and feel, which the Indian consumer is very accustomed to while shopping for fresh produce. For her Gobbly is an extension of her personal kitchen and fridge, being accessible a few steps away around the clock. We have been working closely with the Gobbly team over the last few quarters to co-develop this platform and are happy to back Ankur and Amit in this journey.”
