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Online grocery retailer Grofers, which has raised over $200 million in a Series F funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund, plans to expand its reach in South India.
This represents the largest primary financing round in the online grocery sector in India, Albinder Dhindsa, co-founder and CEO of Grofers, told BusinessLine . Other participants in the round included South Korean investor KTB and existing investors Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital.
The $60 million that Grofers raised at a post money valuation of $600 million earlier this year is part of the same round, which is expected to see a third tranche of fund infusion soon. The latest round places Grofers close to the Unicorn league of start-ups, valued at over $1 billion.
Five-year-old Grofers, which has raised $350 million so far, competes with bigger rival BigBasket, which became a Unicorn in March when it raised $150 million at a valuation of $2.3 billion.
Smaller basket
Unlike BigBasket, Grofers does not offer fresh fruits/vegetables or express deliveries. Also, it delivers in just 12 cities, while BigBasket has a much wider reach.
Three years ago, Grofers moved away from the hyperlocal grocery-delivery model to become a consumer products company, said Dhindsa.
The new funds will be used to triple Grofers’ warehousing capacity in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai and in customer acquisition.The start-up expects to become profitable by 2021.
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