SoCoMo Technologies, which owns and operates auto-hailing app Jugnoo, has acquired on-demand grocery venture SabKuchFresh, the Chandigarh-based company announced on June 2, 2016.
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but in a company-issued statement, Jugnoo said the acquisition was made to “enhance its recently launched grocery delivery service Fatafat.”
“This is a step towards helping the auto drivers to supplement their livelihood through extra earnings. Jugnoo also intends to create a logistics network for the mass market of India and wants to tap the hyper-local delivery service space through best possible routes,” said Samar Singla , Chief Executive of Jugnoo.
According to the press release, the SabKuchFresh acquisition will allow Jugnoo to make maximum utilization of its auto driver-partners, and which also allow them to earn additional income, when not ferrying passengers.
The company plans to roll out the delivery service to Gurgaon by next month and enter 30 more cities, across the country, by the end of the year, the press release stated.
A separate team has been hired run the operations of the new acquisition, the press statement added. It, however, did not specify if the SabKuchFresh employees had been absorbed into Jugnoo, or not.
According to the company-issued press release, goods delivered by SabKuchFresh, are sourced directly from farmers, and are free from pesticides and artificial ripening agents. The on-demand venture claims to have a tie-up with more than 100 farmers.
Founded by Singla and Chinmay Agarwal in 2014, Jugnoo claims to have over 10,000 autos empanelled under its brand, with 35,000 consumers transacting daily on its platform.
In April earlier this year, the company, which competes with ride hailing apps Ola and Uber , was reported to have raised $10 million in an extended Series B round, at its existing valuation, a significant portion of which, was pumped in by its existing investors, including One97 Communications , the parent company of digital payments and services platform, Paytm .
However, this was preceded by media reports, which quoted Jugnoo Founder Singla as stating that the company was looking to raise $30 million in a Series C round, and which was expected to close in January.
Source: Economic Times
