Bonnishikha Chowdhury, MBR Team

MBR: How did the idea of Kludio come into being?

Kludio: When we started, we noticed that food, technology and operation were not designed for optimal doorstep experience, despite the fast growth of the food delivery market. We wanted to change this imbalance in experience & quality, by creating Kludio, so that the underserved customers of the region (Bangladesh & beyond) have a digital food court to rely on. One app, all your meals, for everyone.

The journey has been about working collectively with like-minded individuals, and teams
towards a common vision - building Asia’s digital food court. From the early days, Kludio’s team and brands like Dough on the Go, Hero Burger, Frybox & Chowbox have been community driven and hygiene focused.

In essence, Kludio is the intersection between food, technology, and logistics - all three interests of ours came together in the form of this idea - Kludio. Since inception, we started to see that our community of customers like the Kludio experience - this attracted more customers, investors and team mates. The model that we built is that of a digital food court where you can mix & match brands in one single order much like a physical food court.

Now we have 30+ employees who have shown unfathomable determination which has made it possible to launch the app in the middle of the pandemic. That is a definite sign of an enduring company, and it motivates me and my co-founders to perform and deliver better.

MBR: What is the business model and product line of Kludio?

Kludio: Kludio is an app that operates like a digital food court, letting you order scrumptious dishes from different food brands, delivered within one single order. So even if your friends wish to order, for instance, Italian and you’re craving deshi food, you can order both simultaneously, from the Kludio app delivered as one order. We own and operate the food brands - think of us as Unilever of food delivery. Many brands under one umbrella Company.

MBR: How the response was in the initial stage and what strategies have you developed to expand the client base?

Kludio: We recognize our business as a “fly-wheel” concept where you work on making an amazing product that keeps the customers happy, and they, in turn, tell their friends and family about the product. This helps with steady revenue and helps us sustain while creating a great experience for our consumers.

MBR: How many customers have Kludio served so far? How do you hope to scale up the business?

Kludio: Currently, we have 30,000+ app users across our nine brands under the umbrella - Dough on the Go, Hero Burger, Frybox, Chowbox to name the champions. Right now, we deliver within the Banani, Mohakhali, Gulshan, Bashundhara, DOHS areas and its periphery. We will be covering all of Dhaka by 2022, and eventually, we plan to expand throughout the country and other emerging countries in Asia and Middle East.

MBR: What challenges does Kludio face in general?

Kludio: Challenges keep changing every quarter, every month – even, every day. When we started, they revolved around brand creation and kitchen operations. Now, these are built-in capabilities of the team: Kludio can create cuisines and brands in weeks. We recently launched our consumer-facing app to create a direct customer relationship, which has solved issues around market access and overdependence on aggregators. Logistics used to be a challenge, but we have since built an elastic fleet that enables us to deliver hot and fresh food quickly. Every challenge that we overcome becomes a capability, ultimately allowing the team to move toward our vision.

MBR: Considering the COVID-19 situation, what are the difficulties you have been facing and how do you intend to recover or mitigate those?

Kludio: While the Covid-19 landscape has become a part of the day-to-day operations, the entire Kludio team managed to show resilience by participating in the change management process smoothly. The team has developed a special bonding after navigating through the crisis together. The COVID-19 pandemic has helped us rethink and improvise the way we provide services. We launched a consumer-facing app in August this year, which has been highly successful. There have been challenges in supply chain, and raw material pricing, which has led to creation and adaptation of new processes and systems within the company. “Scarcity builds creativity.” - quote Kishwar The entire team has put in special efforts in upholding global standards of hygiene, ultimately giving our customers a sense of comfort and assurance at a difficult time like this.

MBR: What are the future plans for Kludio?

Kludio: The food delivery market in Bangladesh has exhibited a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 80% since 2016 – it’s on track to be a billiondollar market by 2025. In the mid-term, we’re focused on scaling our full stack model as it has been successfully proven. The model works and the market is large, so the focus is on opening new kitchens to unlock the pent-up demand in a city of 20 million people - Dhaka. Imagine 30 kitchens with 15 proprietary brands in each – that’s a total of 450 digital restaurants. Our long term goal is to scale up into other countries of Asia, and the Middle East while also adding new business models within Kludio.