Synopsis
Apna Mart, an online grocery service, has reduced its workforce by 10%. This move is a result of integrating artificial intelligence into operations and relocating its headquarters. The company is shifting its base from Bengaluru to Gurugram. Affected employees will receive severance packages. This restructuring aims to align teams with core markets.Listen to this article in summarized format
In an internal email sent to its employees, reviewed by ET, the company said, “...your role has been impacted as part of our transition from Bangalore to base locations.” It added that the affected employees will receive severance pay equivalent to two months of their salaries.
Responding to ET’s queries, the company said, “This is part of a broader organisational restructuring where we are aligning teams closer to our core markets. We had to let go of the employees for whom relocation wasn’t possible. At the same time, some roles are simply no longer needed because the work is now handled by AI.”
The 10% reduction in headcount translates to about 35-40 employees across different verticals, the company said.
Apna Mart’s product and tech team will be based in Gurugram. Currently, the company has a presence in 10 cities across Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal with operational teams in these cities. “We have historically operated and executed from these cities, and this move is in line with that approach,” the company said.
Founded by Abhishek Singh and Chetan Garg, Apna Mart operates on a franchisee model, offering groceries in 10 minutes in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. It works on an omnichannel model, enabling customers to buy groceries from its stores or online. It currently has 185-195 stores.
Apna Mart competes with quick commerce companies. Blinkit commands the lion’s share of that market, with Instamart and Zepto accounting for much of the remainder. Blinkit had 2,243 dark stores as of March, while Instamart had 1,034 dark stores as of December 2025, and Zepto had 1,100-1,050 stores as of March.
Over the past year, the segment has seen ecommerce majors Amazon (through Now) and Flipkart (through Minutes) also enter the arena and expand.
While the quick commerce companies work on a dark store and delivery-only model, Apna Mart's omnichannel model is similar to Reliance's JioMart.
For FY25, Apna Mart reported a Rs 75.8 crore net loss on Rs 190 crore revenue, according to its filings with the Registrar of Companies. The company claimed it grew 2.5 times in FY26 and closed the year with Rs 500 crore in revenue. It did not, however, reveal how the bottom line performed. The FY26 numbers have also not been officially released.
