Pumpkart secures seed capital from Dr Ritesh Malik
Chandigarh, May 18, 2017: (By Raju William) Dr. Ritesh Malik, founder of Innov8 and Project Guerrilla has invested an undisclosed amount in Chandigarh-based startup Pumpkart.
Pumpkart is India’s largest online niche platform for selling water pumps started by KS Bhatia in 2014. Water pump industry is growing at a 15% annual rate and bound for growth as water scarcity hits developing nations like India.
Bhatia has the vision to develop the less known and non-exciting pump industry into a technology led high moving consumer good. With his vision to sell pumps by educating customers and creating a deeply penetrated distribution network.
Bhatia has created an apple style store in Chandigarh which sells pumps of various brands including his own.
When asked, Bhatia coomented it was great to have Dr. Ritesh Malik on board in our vision to solve one of India’s most challenging problems, that is water. India is exporting pumps to over 100 countries in the world but still, the domestic market is highly fragmented.
"Our focus is not to deviate from our core which is the pump industry and revolutionize the way pumps are being bought & used in the country,” he added.
Pumpkart is also experimenting with Pumpkart Services, a platform to service the pumps bought from the platform.
Bhatia mentioned that after-sales service in the pump industry is horrendous. A technology platform for farmers who are the largest consumers of water pumps helps them keep their log of inefficient pumps as low as possible and in turn contributes significantly in reducing the overall cost of production and at the same time increase crop production.
Dr Ritesh Malik spoke of Bhatia an innovative and enterprising entrepreneur with an industry experience of over 17 years whose passion for changing a niche vertical like water pumps is commendable."I was moved by the sheer passion and focus he has for a non-glamorous product like water pumps. He’s one of the most determined entrepreneurs I have met in my life,” commented Malik.
Dr Ritesh Malik
Earlier this year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had mentioned Pumpkart’s example in his visit to India and appreciated Bhatia for his vision of converting a traditionally-run offline business into an online business. (raju.william@gmail.com)