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Online grocery portal BigBasket.com, owned by SuperMarket Grocery Supplies, has raised about Rs 45 crore venture debt from Trifecta Capital.
The funds will be used to meet the capex requirements of the company, including setting up of new warehouses, strengthening the cold chain and setting up facilities for reprocessing of fruits and vegetables, the company said in a statement today.
“We are in the last leg of a pilot which will ensure that all fruits and vegetables are maintained at constant temperature and there by improve shelf-life of the produce by almost 10 days. This will be done using large-scale equipment such as pre-coolers and ventilators and finding such capex requirements is best done through debt," said Hari Menon, Co-founder of BigBasket.
He further added that while the company has access to equity capital, it is also looking to optimise its capital structure, and venture debt is much cheaper than equity, especially on a post-tax basis and will help reduce the overall cost of capital. Also, it comes without any end use restrictions.
"Unlike other online grocery businesses, BigBasket is a full stack player and have already broken even in some of the key markets like Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Besides, they are backed by very high quality and deep pocketed investors. We are excited to be part of their growth story”, said Nilesh Kothari, Co-Founder, Trifecta Capital.
Trifecta’s strategy is to provide customised debt solutions to companies based on their specific business needs. Besides, it helps connect its investee companies to traditional businesses and banking channels.
"Several of our investee companies have benefited from leveraging our networks. Equally, our LPs are eager to find ways to collaborate with our investee companies. We are constantly looking for innovative ways to add value to our investee companies,” said Rahul Khanna, Co-Founder of Trifecta Capital.
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