Nysaa Retail, which operates a chain of retail stores under the brand name ‘1-India Family Mart’, has raised first round funding of about $6.5 million (₹42.5 crore) from domestic private equity fund Carpediem Capital in return for a ‘significant’ minority stake.

At present, the New Delhi-based company has 38 stores across tier II and III cities and smaller towns of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. It will use the proceeds to expand its outlets and warehouse and in tech upgradation.

The bootstrapped company, led by entrepreneurs Jay Prakash Shukla and Ravinder Singh, began operations in October 2013.

“We plan to open another 12 stores in this financial year, taking the total to 50. Further, we intend to add another 30 stores in the next fiscal,” said Shukla, founder and CEO of Nysaa. “A part of the proceeds will be used to add another 35,000-40,000 sq ft of warehouse space to our existing 50,000 sq ft.”

Tech upgradation

The proceeds will also be used for technological upgradation, particularly for CRM and allocation tools.

Nysaa Retail has no plans to expand its product line. Its present product mix consists of 80 per cent apparels and 20 per cent non-apparels (footwear, home furnishing and household items). “This funding is good enough for next three years,” Shukla added.

Prabhudas Lilladher Capital Markets was the financial advisor for the transaction.

For Carpediem Capital, which typically invests $2-8 million apiece, this is the fifth investment from its ₹210-crore maiden fund.

“With this investment, about 80 per cent of the fund’s corpus has been committed, and the remaining 20 per cent will be invested in the current portfolio of companies. We also have a couple of other transactions in the pipeline,” said Arvind Nair, Chairman, Carpediem.

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