Retail tech start-up NutriTap Technologies has announced that it has signed up with Grip Invest for a leased financing deal of ₹4 crore.

As part of the deal, Grip Invest will enable its retail investors/users to lease assets such as smart retail kiosks and other machines needed in running an unmanned 24/7 retail store, providing an opportunity to invest in the retail space.

NutriTap currently operates more than 250 smart retail kiosks across Tier-1 metro cities. With Grip, it plans to expand it to 12 cities by end of this year.

NutriTap creates alternative retail channels for brands to do Direct-to-Customer (D2C) unmanned retail. The start-up’s full-stack retail expertise includes smart kiosk technology and simplified distribution mechanism.

Rajesh Kumar, co-founder of NutriTap, said, “The deal stems from the fact that there is a massive growth potential in the unmanned retail space post pandemic. Machine leasing will help us to convert this business into Opex based model from capex one. Apart from Asset Light Model, leasing will also enable scalability into this business.”

NutriTap is building in-house, patented, retail kiosk technology, which includes machine design, payment hardware, backend software and data & business insight capabilities.

It aims to enable smart retail across 800 locations in the next one year and in more than 2,500 locations in top metro cities in the next two years.

Nikhil Aggarwal, founder and CEO, Grip invest, said, “Globally the interactive kiosk retailing segment is expected to reach $32 billion by growing at a CAGR of 14 per cent by 2028. In India, the market is already at $7 billion driven by growing urbanisation and surging young population demands. Lease Financing plays an important role in enabling this growth. It can meet different forms of capital requirements and unlock potential growth without having to worry about dilution.”