A smart logistics platform for consumers and business, Genie, resumes its business in Chennai, after gathering funds of $250,000 from HNIs based out of Dubai and India. It was shut down on March 31st after running for 2 years due to lack of funding, but back to business on May 1st after raising funds. A re-launch of the business took place at ITC Grand Chola, Guindy on 15th May, 2017.
Speaking during the event, Rakesh Mani, Co-founder, Genie said, “The amount of love we’ve gotten even after we ceased operations was incredible. We’ve been able to garner great traction in a city like Chennai, which is known to be one of the most conservative markets in the country. With the investment, and re-enforced knowledge of the fact that people see the value we create for them, we are going to try solving the last mile logistics problem with a lot more courage and sound business fundamentals. We’re looking to create a platform which provides a comprehensive ecosystem for businesses, consumers and delivery Genies to benefit. At Genie, we have only one mission: To deliver delight to you, and we shan’t stop until you are truly delighted each time you place an order with us.”
A chat based platform with no minimum order or distance restrictions, Genie looks to get the best of the city at the customer’s doorstep. Every order is categorised as a pick up and drop, irrespective of the product. The order can be placed for now (in which case it will be picked up in the next 20-40 minutes), or scheduled till upto 7 days later.Genie can be used for collecting cheques and documents, your lunch from home to office, your grocery, medical reports, medicines, smokes and other essentials, cakes for special occasions and delivering coffee and food from all your favorite restaurants and roadside shops.
Commenting on this, Sreekesh Krishnan, Co-founder, Genie said, “When you Google how to get something delivered, it shows you 6 different ways of getting it done. However, if you chat with Genie, we can get it delivered from 6 different places within the hour! We’re looking to build technology that creates interaction between the Delivery Genie and the customer seamless. Genie is a platform that lets a consumer/business contract a Delivery Genie to get a pick up and drop done and we need to make sure that we build products that help both of them utilise the platform to the best of their capabilities and puts great customer experience at the core of everything”
On the business end, Genie helps expand a business’s logistical reach in the city, helping them with planning and executing their deliveries according to the ticket size, average distance, order scheduling and many other parameters, ultimately helping their products reach their customers. Genie, is now currently working with over 150 clients including Kolapasi, Cake Walk, Shree Mithai, Green Goblin, Jallikattu, Patanjali, Ferns n Petals, Zahana, Gold Winner, etc.
At present, Genie has a special focus on attaining scale and being operationally profitable with the current cost in the next 8-12 months along with creating supplementary products and sources of income. Post which, Genie might look to raise a bigger round for investing in innovative product and technology that will help solve the last mile logistics problem.Genie charges a convenience fee for the pick-up and drop, out of which 85% goes to the Delivery Genie and 15% comes to the company.
Parth Shah, Co-founder, Genie adds, “At Genie, we treat unit economics very seriously. Achieving scale with sound business fundamentals is our main aim. We don’t believe in discounting lead strategy for customer acquisition as customers acquired through discounts are almost always going to be discount seekers. We try to make sure the Delivery Genies on our platform benefit the most from it, as they get 85% of the convenience fee we charge the consumers and business. This helps us on board more of them, and scale faster, thus helping businesses and consumers with ample supply when there is demand.”
