Online grocer BigBasket has raised $150 million from investors led by the Dubai-based private equity firm The Abraaj Group.
The other investors include the International Finance Corporation and Sands Capital, a BigBasket statement said.
Existing investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Advisors, Zodius Capital and Ascent Capital, also participated in this round of funding, the statement added.
BigBasket will use these funds to increase growth in its existing markets, expand into Tier-II cities across India, scale up its recently launched express delivery and specialty store business and broaden its product range, the statement said.
Omar Lodhi, Partner and Head of Asia, The Abraaj Group, said his company would leverage its experience in the consumer sector to enable BigBasket’s next phase of growth in India.
BigBasket officials said the fund infusion had come at a time when the start-up is seeing a five-fold rise in monthly revenues and an increased proportion of high-margin private label products.
The company’s own brands currently account for 33 per cent of revenues, and this is projected to go up to 40 per cent by the end of 2016, they said. This uptake is fuelled by an increase in smartphone penetration and internet usage, which is expected to hit 54 per cent and 670 million, respectively, by 2020.
Abraaj, which has had a presence in India since 2006, has made two other investments –– in Care Hospitals and in a renewable energy partnership with the Aditya Birla Group.
In Asia, Abraaj has invested $1.4 billion across a range of sectors such as healthcare, financial services, logistics, consumer goods, and food and beverages.
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