Former Cleartrip CEO to start quick commerce retail venture: Report

Former chief executive officer of Flipkart, Ayyappan R, is reportedly set to start a quick commerce retail venture. According to The Economic Times report, Ayyappan is in talks with venture capital firms Accel and RTP Global for seed funding.

Storyboard18 could not independently verify the information.

The venture will reportedly focus on delivering premium products across various categories such as FMCG, health and fitness, and fashion of both local and international categories. It will also have an offline retail presence too. As per the ET report, the new venture may deliver products within 20-30 minutes.

Citing sources, the ET report mentioned that the venture would offer a diverse range of products including dry fruits, avocados, blueberries, healthy gummies, etc.

It may operate on a subscription-based model, offering platform access exclusively to its members or by providing better pricing.

Further, the English daily mentioned that the venture is being positioned as "Costco for India". However, the registered name is FirstClub.

Before being the CEO of Flipkart-owned Cleartrip, Ayyappan was the Chief Business Officer of Myntra.

Recently, Flipkart also announced to entry into quick commerce with its service called 'Minutes'.

As per Bofa Securities, the quick commerce market is expected to grow to nearly $22 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) by 2027 from $2.8 billion in 2023.