HipBar Acquired

HipBar let age-verified consumers browse a selection of alcoholic drinks, choose a brand and pay through its mobile wallet, then have the product delivered to their doorstep or collect it from a chosen retail store.

HipBar held one of only 37 RBI-issued PPI licences in the country, letting it operate a semi-closed wallet and issue cash vouchers and prepaid cards -- the asset CRED ultimately acquired the company for.

End consumers who browse and buy alcoholic beverages for home delivery or retail pickup through the HipBar app.

HipBar built and deployed a POS system for standalone licensed retail stores and a SaaS e-governance module used by governments to run alcohol retail programmes.

Consumer-facing HipBar Delivery (browse/order/home delivery) and HipBar Pay (in-store wallet payments); home delivery was active in Bangalore, with pickup from a nearby retail shop offered where delivery wasn't available.

Purchases could also be picked up from a partner retail store, with HipBar's own POS software deployed at those licensed stores.

Core activity was building/deploying the last-mile alcohol delivery platform, a SaaS-based e-governance module for governments, HipBar POS for licensed retail stores, and HipBar Pay for government-controlled retail stores.

One of only 37 firms nationally holding an RBI PPI licence, allowing HipBar to run a semi-closed wallet and issue cash vouchers/prepaid cards -- the core asset behind the CRED acquisition.

Diageo-controlled United Spirits took a 26% equity stake in 2018 to explore e-commerce/home-delivery routes to alcohol consumers, while HipBar continued to run as an independent enterprise under its founding team.

Worked closely with the alcohol industry and Indian government bodies to build and deploy e-governance and POS technology for regulated alcohol retail.