Quick commerce has rewired customer expectations in India: Blinkit, Zepto, and similar players promise groceries in minutes. But for many D2C (direct-to-consumer) brands, matching that speed has been a struggle due to reliance on slow couriers, high marketplace fees, and loss of control over brand experience. Pikndel, a Delhi-based logistics startup co-founded by Siddharth and Tullika Batra, is building a solution. It enables D2C brands to offer 1-hour, same-day, and next-day delivery directly from their own websites by using a three-layer network: a central warehouse (“mother warehouse”), dark stores, and in-house last-mile riders. The company has onboarded brands like Mamaearth, boAt, Healthkart, Uniqlo, and Hopscotch, and says metrics like conversion rates, COD success, and return-to-origin (RTO) rates have improved significantly. After bootstrapping early operations, the team raised funding (pre-seed and seed), and is now scaling to more Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities—with a focus on maintaining profitability and operational sustainability. Startup founders and investors looking to build or back fast-delivery infrastructure should watch Pikndel’s model closely.
In India’s quick commerce boom, grocery apps like Blinkit and Zepto have set a high bar—groceries delivered in 10-20 minutes in many cities. But for D2C brands, keeping up with that kind of speed has been tough. Most depend on third-party couriers, display products on marketplaces, or accept 3-5 day delivery windows, which hurts customer experience and margins.
That’s the gap Pikndel aims to fill. Founded by Siddharth and Tullika Batra, Pikndel lets D2C companies offer 1-hour, same-day, and next-day delivery options directly through their own sites or apps. The model keeps brand control over customer data, experience, and communication.
How Pikndel Operates
Pikndel’s logistics network has three layers:
- Mother warehouse: central inventory hub for all brands.
- Dark stores: stocked with fast-moving SKUs in densely populated zones like Gurgaon, South Delhi, Noida.
- In-house fleet: own riders delivering from dark stores so brands don’t depend on external courier services.
This setup allows Pikndel to deliver within an hour in Delhi NCR, and offer next-day service in major metros like Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Key Metrics & Brand Impact
Early signs are promising. Brands using Pikndel see improvements in:
- Conversion rates: Product pages tagged with fast delivery convert up to 30% more.
- COD (cash on delivery) success: from ~75% up to 90%+.
- Return/RTO rates dropping.
Clients include Mamaearth, boAt, Healthkart, Uniqlo, Hopscotch. Integration is plug-and-play via platforms like Shopify, Unicommerce, and Shiprocket, giving brands real-time visibility into inventory, tracking, and delivery status.
Growth & Strategy
Pikndel started small. The founders say expanding too quickly across many cities hurt efficiency. They pulled back from Mumbai and Bengaluru to double down on Delhi NCR. This allowed better warehouse placement, improved routing, higher order volumes per zone, and better unit economics. After doing this, they achieved six consecutive months of positive margin.
Funding so far includes a pre-seed round of US$285,000 in late 2023, led by 100x.VC, and a subsequent seed round in November 2024 of US$1 million, supported by VC Grid.
Looking ahead, Pikndel plans to expand into 11 new cities over the next six months, especially focusing on Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets. They are also building tech tools—predictive inventory, demand forecasting, smart routing—to support scale without compromising speed or customer satisfaction.
