An investor said that the company raised the money at a valuation of about $500 million, which would make it India’s most-valuable ecommerce firm focused on a specific category such as grocery or fashion. BigBasket was previously estimated to be worth about $320 million before it raised money from Sands Capital and GIC, show filings submitted with the ministry of corporate affairs on November 30.
The company did not comment on its present valuation. New investors International Finance Corporation and US-based Sands Capital as well as existing backers Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Advisors, Zodius Capital and Ascent Capital invested in BigBasket in the latest funding round, which was executed in multiple tranches over the past seven months. Abraaj, others put $150 million in the BigBasket
ET reported in December that Big-Basket was in the final stages of fund raising round that would give it the ammunition to take on grocery delivery services such as Grofers and those of ecommerce giants Flipkart, Ola and Amazon India.
Flipkart and Ola recently shut their grocery units, underlining the complications built into a business that relies on sourcing products from neighbourhood stores to deliver to customers. The convenience offered by this model, though, poses a threat to companies like BigBasket that earn their bread-and-butter from inventory-led, supply chain-focused businesses, and has forced them into adapting fast.
BigBasket has set up partnerships directly with brands as well as farmers in different parts of the country to source products at competitive prices. “We have a unique opportunity to build one of the largest grocery businesses in the country, whether offline or online,” said VS Sudhakar, a cofounder of BigBasket.
Hari Menon, CEO at BigBasket, said the company’s strength lay in its supply-chain integration for its fresh fruits and vegetables segment, where competitors like Snapdealbacked Peppertap and Grofers face hurdles because of their reliance on local stores.
“Fresh produce are bought by experienced buyers, sorted and qualitychecked before delivery. The produce comes to the distribution centre, gets processed, packed and is delivered direct to homes without having to go to a store,” Menon said.
BigBasket said it will use the money from its latest fund-raise to expand further in existing markets and into smaller cities across India, scale up its recently launched express delivery and speciality store business, and increase its product range.
Source: The Economic Times