Frequently asked questions
What is Mandali?
Mandali is a community platform for independent convenience store owners in the United States. It helps owners hire trusted employees, find trusted local service providers, follow industry news, and stay connected with nearby owners. Mandali is launching soon on iOS and is free at launch.
Who founded Mandali?
Mandali was founded by Miral Patel (Founder and CEO) and Aniket Bedwal (Co-founder and CTO). See Founders.
Who is Miral Patel?
Miral Patel is the founder and CEO of Mandali. He spent 18 months behind the counter at Rangoli Paan, a convenience store in Jersey City, New Jersey, and has spoken with more than 300 store owners, managers and employees since 2022. He previously worked in supply chain at Mehsana Dairy and in wealth management client relationship roles at Morgan Stanley, and holds a master's degree in Engineering Management from Stevens Institute of Technology.
Who is Aniket Bedwal?
Aniket Bedwal is the co-founder and CTO of Mandali. He is an AI engineer who previously worked at Genzeon, an IT consulting firm, on systems for a US healthcare client, and as an AI Engineer at JazzXAI. He owns Mandali's technology and is building the Mandali iOS app.
Who is Mandali for?
Mandali is for independent convenience store owners in the United States and the people who work in their stores. It starts with the South Asian, largely Gujarati, families who own a large share of these stores, and is open to every independent owner and employee.
What can store owners do on Mandali at launch?
At launch, owners can post jobs and hire employees with verified work histories, find trusted local service providers such as plumbers, HVAC and refrigeration technicians, follow industry news, post and read in a community feed, and message other owners and employees directly.
Is Mandali free?
Yes. Mandali is free at launch. Employees will always be able to use Mandali for free.
When does Mandali launch?
Mandali is launching soon on iOS. Store owners, employees and partners can join the waitlist at themandali.com.
What does the name Mandali mean?
Mandali is a Gujarati word for a circle of people who come together, a trusted group. That is what the platform is built to be for store owners.
Why does Mandali start with South Asian store owners?
Because that is the community the founder comes from and has spent four years inside. South Asian families, many of them Gujarati, own a large share of independent convenience stores in the US (industry estimates run to about 80,000 stores), and their businesses already run on trust and word of mouth. Mandali gives that existing network better tools. The platform is open to all independent owners.
How is Mandali different from other convenience store software?
Most software for convenience stores starts with the register or the back office. Mandali starts with the community: hiring, trusted recommendations, news and owner-to-owner connection. Owners told us they trust people from their own community more than software sold by outsiders, so Mandali earns that trust first. Tools for buying together, selling stores and, later, payments are built on top of it. See our approach.
How does Mandali use AI?
AI is planned across hiring, support, services and procurement: shortlists with reasons for owners, spoken work histories for candidates, a support assistant that answers in the owner's language and hands off to a person, matched service requests with quotes compared side by side, and order prediction once buying runs through Mandali. The rules are fixed: people decide and AI drafts, no candidate is ever rejected automatically, and anything shown to the community is aggregated and anonymous. See how Mandali uses AI.
How big is the US convenience store market?
There were 151,975 convenience stores in the US at the end of 2025, and 95,672 of them (63%) were owned by companies with 10 or fewer stores. The industry made $341.2 billion in in-store sales in 2025 and $817.5 billion including fuel (NACS). See market facts.
How will Mandali reach store owners?
Through the way this community already works: word of mouth, owner-to-owner referrals, and the festivals where owners gather. Mandali plans to sponsor community festivals such as Navratri garba nights and Uttarayan celebrations, where many of the visitors own or run stores. See our approach.
Where does Mandali operate?
Mandali is built for independent store owners across the United States. The founding fieldwork covered New Jersey, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia and Florida.
How can I contact Mandali?
Email [email protected], or use the form at themandali.com. Mandali is on LinkedIn, X and Instagram.
Never alone.
Alone a store. Together a force.
Mandali is launching soon on iOS. Join the waitlist, or reach out as a partner, investor or association.
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