For Dipal Dutta, founder and CEO of IT services company Redoq, a shift of base from the UK to Bengal is not just about homecoming. Dutta plans to have the company’s research and development backbone in Calcutta as the company further expands into software services and the pharmaceutical sector, aiming to double the group’s turnover.

In an interaction with The Telegraph, Dutta recalled how Redoq scaled up in the UK, starting with the food and beverage sector, expanded to the UAE, Qatar, Canada and the USA, with a shift of the main operations of the company to Bengal.

“In 2005, I went to the UK to study software engineering at Staffordshire. In 2010, while I was finishing the final year project, I started the organisation Redoq. At that time, there was a gap in the food and beverage industry, and there was nothing like a food marketplace such as Swiggy and Zomato. There was only one available service which was charging a hefty commission from restaurants and takeaways. So we started with Dineorder, which is a commission-free platform. Then in 2018, we started Kuick, which is a commission-based platform where we do the marketing and advertisement.”

On these two platforms, the company currently caters to 8,000 clients, growing significantly during the Covid period and is a key cash flow generator.

Dutta said that the decision to move the company’s headquarters and administrative operations to India started in 2022, and explaining the rationale, he said, “My connection with the city is not the only factor. Calcutta has a huge potential in terms of available talent, ethics and mindset that I am not going to get anywhere else in the country. This is key for research and development, which is crucial for our future growth. We are looking to double our headcount to 500 in Calcutta, hopefully in the next year.”

Dutta said the company has also opened offices in Bangalore and Delhi and is meeting people from these cities who are also willing to come to Calcutta to work.

Expanding horizons

Dutta said that Redoq is in the process of developing a set of tools under the Kuick platform that can help developers create interface designs and export code into any programming language. With API, database management services, server architecture and deployment in app stores, these would reduce application development time by 70-80 per cent, while minimising the number of layers.

“It will be a SaaS (software as a service) based solution. We are rolling out the beta phase and looking at commercial availability by January 2026,” said Dutta, adding that the company will also look at expanding subsequently into CRM (customer relationship management) and HRM (human resource management) solutions while also making AI and ML tools for developers.

The company has also ventured into the pharmaceutical business under Alrioz and is making trademarked prescription medicines for distribution in Bengal.

Back in the UK, the company has already forayed into the payments services space and is in discussion with the UK FCA (financial conduct authority) to expand further into the fintech space, offering solutions such as current and savings account services and credit cards under the brand Kuick to the company’s existing and new client base.

However, Dutta said the solutions that the company offers for restaurants and takeaways in the UK could take time to be introduced in the Indian market, which is currently highly competitive.

Bootstrapped yet profitable

Dutta said that Redoq is a bootstrapped business and no funds have been raised so far from venture capital or private equity.

“We are profitable. Once we developed our client base, we could generate our revenue and keep growing. We are currently clocking around ₹500 crore revenue, and we are expecting this to increase by 2x next year,” he said.

Down the line, however, Dutta has not ruled out an initial public offer for Redoq.