Prerna Kalra: How She Built Daalchini into an Indian Retail-Tech PlatformThe Founder Nation

Prerna Kalra, co-founder and CEO of Daalchini, a food-tech company focused on providing affordable, accessible meals through smart vending solutions.

Prerna Kalra co-founded Daalchini in 2017 after working at Paytm. Explore her career, smart vending model, retail-tech journey and business strategy.

Written by TFN Research Desk | covering startups, technology, venture capital, and business strategy.

Who is Prerna Kalra?
Early Life and Education
Career Before Daalchini
How Daalchini Started
Funding History
Revenue Growth and Recent Developments
Public Recognition
Daalchini vs Competitors
Investor Perspective
Founder Timeline
Key Takeaways
FAQs
The Take Nobody In The Industry Wants To Say Out Loud
Sources
SEO Metadata Block

Who is Prerna Kalra?

Prerna Kalra is the Co-founder and CEO of Daalchini Technologies, an Indian retail-tech company that uses IoT-enabled vending machines and smart stores to sell food, snacks, beverages and everyday products. She co-founded Daalchini in 2017 with Vidya Bhushan Sinha after previously working at Paytm. Her experience in digital payments and product management became central to Daalchini’s technology-led approach to physical retail.

Early Life and Education

Kalra holds a B.E. in Electronics and Communication from Panjab University. She also pursued postgraduate education in IT Systems and Operations from IMT Ghaziabad.

Her academic background combines electronics with information technology and operations, providing a relevant foundation for building a company that sits between physical infrastructure and digital technology.

Career Before Daalchini

Before founding Daalchini, Kalra worked at Paytm, where she held senior product roles. She served as Head of Products for Paytm Wallet and also worked as a General Manager.

Her time at Paytm gave her direct exposure to digital payments and consumer technology at a time when India’s digital commerce ecosystem was expanding rapidly. That experience later influenced Daalchini’s approach to bringing digital payments into physical food retail.

How Daalchini Started

Kalra co-founded Daalchini Technologies in 2017 with Vidya Bhushan Sinha. The company was built around a simple problem: making everyday food and convenience products available in locations where traditional food outlets may not be practical.

Daalchini uses smart vending machines and automated stores to distribute food, snacks, beverages and other products. Customers can interact with the machines digitally, while technology helps operators manage inventory, payments and consumption patterns.

The model combines physical retail infrastructure with software and IoT. That makes Daalchini different from conventional food-delivery companies, which depend heavily on restaurants, delivery fleets and human fulfilment.

The company has focused on institutional and workplace environments where customers need quick access to food and beverages without requiring a conventional retail outlet.

Funding History

Round	Year	Amount	Lead Investor
Seed Funding	2019	Undisclosed	Undisclosed
Pre-Series A	2022	Undisclosed	Undisclosed
Later Funding	Not publicly disclosed	Not publicly disclosed	Not publicly disclosed

Daalchini’s complete funding history and round-by-round investor details are not publicly disclosed in sufficient detail to present a reliable total.

Revenue Growth and Recent Developments

Fiscal Year	Revenue	Net Profit/Loss
FY24	Not publicly disclosed	Not publicly disclosed
FY25	Not publicly disclosed	Not publicly disclosed

Detailed recent financial figures for Daalchini are not publicly disclosed in the information available for this profile.

The company’s development has instead centred on expanding its smart-vending and smart-store network. Its model allows food and everyday products to be distributed through technology-enabled infrastructure rather than requiring a full physical store at every location.

Public Recognition

Kalra has received attention within India’s startup and retail-tech ecosystem for combining digital payments, IoT and food retail.

Her earlier experience at Paytm has also contributed to her profile as a technology and product-focused founder. Daalchini’s model has positioned her within the growing Indian retail-tech sector, where automation is increasingly being applied to everyday consumer transactions.

Daalchini vs Competitors

Company	Founded	Positioning
Daalchini	2017	Smart vending and retail technology
Vendiman	2011	Automated vending solutions
HungerBox	2016	Digital cafeteria and food-tech platform
Rebel Foods	2011	Internet-first food delivery

Daalchini operates in a different part of food technology from traditional delivery platforms. Its emphasis is on automated physical access rather than delivering food from restaurants to consumers. This gives it potential advantages in controlled environments such as offices, institutions and campuses, although the model depends heavily on location selection, inventory management and machine utilisation.

Investor Perspective

Kalra’s background in Paytm gives her a useful understanding of digital payments and consumer technology. That experience is relevant to a business where physical machines need to interact seamlessly with digital transactions.

Daalchini’s opportunity comes from combining automation with a recurring need, food and everyday convenience. Smart vending can potentially operate in locations where a conventional food outlet would be too expensive or impractical.

The risks are equally clear. Hardware-heavy businesses require upfront investment, maintenance and reliable supply chains. A machine only makes economic sense when its location generates enough transactions to justify those costs. Scaling therefore requires more than deploying more machines. Daalchini has to identify high-demand locations and maintain strong unit economics.

Founder Timeline

Early career: Begins working in technology and product roles.
Later: Joins Paytm.
At Paytm: Leads products for Paytm Wallet and serves as General Manager.
2017: Co-founds Daalchini Technologies with Vidya Bhushan Sinha.
Following years: Expands Daalchini’s smart-vending and retail-tech model.
Present: Serves as Co-founder and CEO of Daalchini.

Key Takeaways

Prerna Kalra co-founded Daalchini Technologies in 2017.
She previously held senior product roles at Paytm.
Daalchini combines IoT-enabled vending with digital payments and retail technology.
The company focuses on convenient access to food, snacks, beverages and everyday products.
Kalra currently serves as Co-founder and CEO.

FAQs

Who founded Daalchini Technologies?
Prerna Kalra and Vidya Bhushan Sinha co-founded Daalchini Technologies in 2017.

What is Prerna Kalra’s current role?
She is the Co-founder and CEO of Daalchini.

What did Prerna Kalra do before Daalchini?
She worked at Paytm, including as Head of Products for Paytm Wallet and as a General Manager.

Where did Prerna Kalra study?
She studied Electronics and Communication Engineering at Panjab University and pursued postgraduate education in IT Systems and Operations at IMT Ghaziabad.

What does Daalchini do?
Daalchini uses smart vending machines and smart stores to provide food, snacks, beverages and other everyday products.

When was Daalchini founded?
Daalchini Technologies was founded in 2017.

What makes Daalchini different from food-delivery companies?
Daalchini uses automated physical infrastructure to provide products at specific locations rather than relying primarily on restaurant delivery networks.

What is Daalchini’s funding total?
Its complete funding total is not publicly disclosed in sufficient detail.

Is Daalchini profitable?
Recent detailed profitability figures are not publicly disclosed.

What is Prerna Kalra’s net worth?
Her current personal net worth is not publicly disclosed.