KiranaPro Investigates Major Data Loss Due to Poor Offboarding and Possible Internal Misuse

Indian grocery delivery startup KiranaPro recently faced a major data loss incident, losing access to its backend servers and GitHub repositories. Initially, the startup attributed the breach to a former employee, citing GitHub logs that showed the deletion was executed under their username. However, co-founder and CEO Deepak Ravindran acknowledged that the employee’s access was never revoked, raising the possibility of third-party misuse of the account. A full forensic investigation has not been conducted due to cost concerns, leaving uncertainty about whether the breach was truly internal or aided externally.

The company also temporarily lost access to its AWS account, which held customer and transaction data, but later recovered both the GitHub code and AWS access through backups and internal efforts. Although Ravindran insists no customer data was compromised, the lack of proper offboarding and unclear security protocols cast doubts on the overall safety of their infrastructure.

The startup, launched in late 2024 and operating via India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce, serves over 55,000 customers in 50 cities. Despite securing a seed round of ₹100 million (~$1.2 million), the company has not fully paid its employees and continues to investigate the breach. KiranaPro is backed by notable investors including Blume Ventures and Olympic medalist PV Sindhu.