Grofers Raises $200M In SoftBank-Led Round

Grofers, the Indian online grocery startup, has raised more than $200 million in a new round of fundraising.

According to a report in Deal Street Asia, the fundraising round was led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund. Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and new investor KTB took part in the investment.

With the latest round of funding, Grofers’ valuation stands at close to $1 billion, noted the report. The startup competes against the likes of Flipkart, the Indian eCommerce giant backed by Walmart, as well as local rival BigBasket and Amazon. BigBasket has the backing of Alibaba Group, the Chinese eCommerce giant.

Grofers is trying to stand out from the pack by focusing on profitability. “Grofers had a top line of $400 million and grew eight times in the last two years,” said Albinder Dhindsa, co-founder and chief executive officer, in an interview with Deal Street Asia. He noted that by the end of this quarter, Grofers will be the country’s biggest online grocer. The Indian grocery market is valued at $600 billion and is projected to grow 55 percent a year through 2021.

Earlier this year, Grofers’ rival BigBasket was able to raise $150 million in venture funding, which it said it will use for expansion. That round of funding gives the startup a valuation of between $2 billion and $2.3 billion. BigBasket plans to use the funds to expand across major metro areas in the country, acquire smaller startups and expand into new categories, including beauty products and meat.

A filing from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs at the time revealed that Alibaba will subscribe to 437,500 Series F compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) for $50 million, while Mirae Asset will be given 524,990 CCPS at a value of $114.29 per share, or $59.9 million. CDC will get 350,000 CCPS for $40 million. Alibaba invested $200 million in BigBasket in 2017, as well.