[Funding alert] Grofers raises more than $200M in funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund

Online grocery platform Grofers on Wednesday said it has raised more than $200 million as part of its Series F funding round, which was led by SoftBank Vision Fund. 

The round also saw participation from a new investor, South Korean investment firm, KTB, and existing investors, Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital.

With the additional funding, Grofers will seek to expand into new markets, bringing its services closer to hundreds of millions of Indian consumers. Grofers will also continue to build its supply chain, warehousing infrastructure, and private label product offerings, ensuring a steadily increasing range of products for customers, it said in a statement.   

Speaking on the funding, Albinder Dhindsa, Co-Founder and CEO of Grofers, added,

“We are building Grofers for the millions of Indians who cannot buy groceries at low prices due to multiple middlemen and the absence of large aggregators. This latest investment will help scale the company to ensure many more customers can access the best quality products at the best prices.” 

Over the last two years, Grofers claims that its technology platform and focus on core markets has helped it grow by a staggering 800 percent, and the company stated that it has achieved an annual revenue of $400 million last fiscal year.

In addition to this, Grofers also claimed that it is a market leader in India’s three largest cities: Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Kolkata.

“Grofers is the leader in making India’s grocery industry more efficient, affordable, and accessible to the mass market urban customer. The company has iterated its way to great success with regard to its technology platform, extensive partner network, and efficient supply chain. We are thrilled to partner with them to drive further innovation in the online grocery category for the mass market,” said Vikas J Parekh, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers.  

This month, Grofers had told PTI that it was pursuing profitability by consolidating its presence in the cities where it has a presence in, as well as focusing on doubling its sales to Rs 5,000 crore by FY20.

The company also said it was gearing up to hit the capital market with an initial public offer (IPO) within the next three years.

Commenting on the investment, Scott Shleifer, Partner at Tiger Global Management, added:

“We are pleased to continue supporting Grofers, which is helping transform the retail grocery market in India. The company’s strong team and innovative approach has put Grofers on a solid path to gain share in this large, growing market.”

At present, Grofers claims to have a network of over 5,000 partner stores on its platform, which aid to run a fast and lean supply chain. In addition, Grofers also delivers over 25 million products to customers every month. The company also has in-house brands including Grofers Happy Day and Grofers Happy Home.

Earlier this month, Bengaluru-based Supermarket Grocery Supplies Pvt Ltd (SGSPL), which owns and operates BigBasket, also confirmed that it has closed $150 million in its Series F round from South Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments, UK Government’s development finance institution CDC Group, and the Alibaba Group. The latest funding valued BigBasket at over $1 billion.

Also read: Online grocery startup Grofers pursues profit, targets IPO in 3 years

[Funding alert] BigBasket confirms $150M funding from Mirae-Naver, Alibaba and CDC

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