Aahaa

Chennai-based start-up positions itself as a B2B marketplace for all corporate needs as far as
office supplies are concerned. Providing an opportunity for large enterprises to consolidate
their indirect product spends, Aahaa takes responsibility for technology-based demand
aggregation, inventory and delivery of all consumables. Aahaa Stores is one of the fastest
growing B2B e-commerce start-ups, tripling its revenue in the last one year and acquiring a
huge number of clients.  The start-up has seen its revenue grow from `18.5 crore to close to
`65 crore in the last one year and is looking to reach `200 crore in the next three years. The
target customers are banks, insurance companies, NBFCs, and corporates / MNCs. Using
cloud-based technology customised to meet individual customer requirements, Aahaa
provides incisive analytics on consumption pattern, cost effectiveness and efficiency issues
on real-time basis to organisations to help them reduce costs and plug loopholes. Aahaa
supports its clients in vendor consolidation which ultimately leads to savings in operational
expenditure with a single window online ordering across India with built-in controls.

Aahaa saves money for companies by being a strategic national vendor for all indirect
product purchases in place of hundreds of vendors for thousands of products and several
thousand transactions. Aahaa helps businesses save 20-30% of the expenses incurred in
indirect purchases by managing their supply chain, bringing collective bargaining benefits
and streamlining the vendor network. Aahaa can support organisations to reap substantial
benefits under GST by ensuring they get input tax credits usually averaging around 18% on
indirect purchases as mandated under the new GST law. Typically, close to 20% of any
organisation’s indirect spends require huge amount of sourcing efforts, approvals and
organisational resources. Aahaa helps organisations to consolidate these and deliver as and
when required. Over 85% of products sold today by Aahaa are manufactured in India.

Since 2013, aahaa’s DigiProcure has been a procurement platform of choice for enterprises
embarking on a digital transformation journey. Where indirect procurement spends are made
by a wide spectrum of users, or spends run into thousands of transactions a month,
DigiProcure automates them handling the material flows, information flows, document flows
and money flows.

DigiProcure. Business users get a consumer-style catalog to raise purchase requests. Catalog
is configured to allow users to only see products or services they are allowed to see. Order
consolidation helps procurement source at better rates. Purchase approval workflows, budget
tracking and business rules ensures compliance. Past 6-month consumption data on a product
while ordering empowers users to order accurately. Incisive analytics and BI for procurement
professionals to analyze spends. API based integrations with ERP, WMS and financial
systems. Integrated vendor portal ensures 3-way invoice verification and alerts vendors in
case of discrepancies. Its authorized share capital is Rs. 158,523,008 and its paid up capital is
Rs. 109,408,000. It is involved in other wholesale.

Inkjet cartridges, office files, stationary products, brand merchandise, corporate gifts,
employee uniforms, id-cards, pantry consumables, even the coffee mugs on every work
station—that’s the world of everyday business consumables that administrative staff in every
office grapple with every day. Throw in the annual purchases of air-conditioners, printers,
shredders, IT accessories, CCTV units, water coolers, coffee machines … the list is endless…
and you have a gigantic inventory list that you have to call tenders for, issue invoices and
monitor installation and usage.

Who They Serve

An opportunity for large enterprises to consolidate all their products & service spends. aahaa
takes single point responsibility for technology-based purchase requisition, business rules,
worflow & approval engines and routing orders to suppliers.

Benefits of using aahaa’s ipos technology:

 Centralized purchasing
  Clear visibility of indirect spending

 Optimized indirect procurement process

 Better quality products sourced

 Direct saving from indirect procurement

Products DigiProcure Support

Some of the prominent category clusters include but not limited to…

DigiProcure: An Intelligent Procurement Operating System

fter a simple set-up, DigiProcure is ready with the catalogue of exact products you had
contracted. Placing and approving orders is just as easy. Centrally you can analyze the spends
with actionable dashboards and alerts to help you save money. DigiProcure seamlessly
interfaces with your ERP. Digitally transform your purchases today.
Portal for all corporate needs

Engage with your Employees, Dealers, and Agents like never before. It’s digital
transformation. It’s secure. It’s configured to your internal procurement policies and
approvals. It’s sheer world class experience.
Business Model

Using cloud-based technology customised to meet individual customer requirements, Aahaa

provides incisive analytics on consumption pattern, cost effectiveness and efficiency issues
on real-time basis to organisations to help them reduce costs and plug loopholes. Aahaa
supports its clients in vendor consolidation which ultimately leads to savings in operational
expenditure with a single window online ordering across India with built-in controls.

Aahaa’s proprietary iPOS platform is designed to integrate all steps of evolved supply chain
processes like demand aggregation, online approvals, e-catalogues, recommendation engine,
micro logistics through auto-assignments, real-time analytics and spend control tools.

Aahaa founders wanted companies to gain from that e-business model and came up with a
marketplace for office supplies. The start-up claims to have 140 customers, mainly from
banking, financial services, insurance and IT industries. It also says that buying on this
platform enables businesses to save up to 20 per cent of their stipulated budgets. It is because
Aahaa bulk-orders the materials from suppliers and sells below market price even after taking
its cut.

Funding:

Online office supplies platform Aahaa Stores announced fresh equity infusion of USD 2
million, led by global investment group, Calega. The Company plans to utilise the fresh
investments to upgrade their technology, expand business across new verticals and
geographies, enrich infrastructure by inducting more independent service providers and
mobilise superior talent.
The Chennai-based startup helps businesses save on indirect purchases spend by managing
their supply chain, bringing collective bargaining benefits and streamlining the vendor
network.Before this round the company raised capital funds twice, worth one million dollars
each, from a group of investors led by YourNest.

Since Aahaa Stores was founded in 2013, it has participated in 3 rounds of funding. In total
Aahaa Stores has raised $4.0M. Aahaa Stores' last funding round was on Jun 2018 for a total
of $2.0M
Strong roots:

Aahaa Stores started with the strong backing of experienced professionals. One of the co-
promoters, Rajaraman Sundaresan (now CEO of Aahaa Stores) had the experience of
founding and running technology-enabled start-ups in Detroit, US. The other promoter, Shri
Harish, was instrumental in designing and deploying cutting-edge processes that shaped e-
commerce industry offerings. They want to remain a technology company engaged in
transforming trading than a trading company using technology. So they invested time and
resources to build a robust platform that caters to various needs of the industry. Aahaa Stores
started with the team’s own savings. Over 30 months, they have pumped in about Rs 4 crore
into the company.  Being based in Chennai, the SAAS capital of India, has been
advantageous to Aahaa Stores.

Differentiation for the win:

E-commerce for office supplies is hardly explored in India, although startups like Nuoaura,
Kobster, and eSupply have had a head start in the space. But Aahaa Stores stands out by
providing insights to organisations on consumption patterns, cost effectiveness and efficiency
issues to help them reduce costs and manage resources efficiently. Aahaa Stores not only lets
customers order products, but also automates reorders in case of product shortage, reduces
time consuming paperwork and manual data entry, tracks order status at any time, and makes
deliveries predictable. It also enables easy identification of environmentally
preferred products.

Aahaa Stores’ 70-member team works across offices in six cities. They are aiming for a
presence in the top 20 cities, covering all popular industrial areas and business centres.
Manufacturers, importers and large distributers of office consumables, indirect supplies, IT
products and gifting items are their primary stakeholders. Aahaa Stores also partners with
logistics and warehousing service providers.

Growth in numbers:
Aahaa Stores’ target customers are the major consumers of stationary, IT accessories,
facility management products, cafeteria consumables and promotional gifts. These companies
mostly spend over Rs 10 crore on indirect purchases in a year. Over 85 percent of the
products sold by Aahaa Stores are manufactured in India. The startup claims to have tripled
its revenue in the last one year by acquiring clients, including IndusInd Bank, Bosch, Wipro,
ITC, Samsung, Yes Bank, Ashok Leyland and Chola. The company has grown its revenue
three times - from Rs 18.5 crore to approximately Rs 65 crore - in the last one year, and is
looking to reach Rs 200 crore in the next three years.

Vision for the future:

Aahaa Stores currently has over 140 large corporate customers; about five new customers are
added every month. They have been growing over 3X for the last couple of years. They will
continue this trajectory and are reaching out to new geographies. Aahaa Stores, currently
focusing on foraying into new markets, hopes to be profitable in a year or two. “BFSI and IT
sector are our target areas. In the stationery market worth Rs 20 billion, multiple players can
establish themselves through office supplies. Uncomplicated design and fail-safe delivery are
key to customer confidence in any business. In the B2B segment, core components like
technology, processes and infrastructure must be able to adapt to customer needs and scale
up.