BigBasket raises $150 million funding led by Dubai's Abraaj Group

Image: Danish Siddiqui/ Reuters

The e-commerce sector in India is estimated to touch $300 billion by 2030

Bengaluru-based online grocery retailer BigBasket.com has raised $150 million in a latest round of funding led by Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Group. New investors such as International Finance Corporation and Sands Capital also participated in the funding round along with existing investors: Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Advisors, Zodius Capital and Ascent Capital.

Started in 2011, BigBasket currently operates across eight large cities and 10 tier II cities across the country. The online grocery company sells over 19,000 products across 1,000 brands, including fruits, vegetables, meat and personal care products. It delivers over one million orders per month.

“We have a unique opportunity to build one of the largest grocery businesses in the country, whether offline or online, and we expect the capital raised in this round to enable us to do just that. We intend to increase the reach of our just-launched one-hour express delivery service and also launch our marketplace for specialty stores in the coming months. This coupled with an expansion in our range of private label products will create a solid foundation for growth in both revenue and profitability,” VS Sudhakar, co-founder, Big Basket said in a statement.

This is Abraaj’s third investment in the global ecommerce space following the acquisition of Turkish online retailer Hepsiburada and Dubai-based mobile application taxi service Careem. In India,  Abraaj has previously invested in Care Hospitals and the development of a gigawatt scale renewable energy platform in partnership with the Aditya Birla Group.

“The strength of BigBasket’s business, which amounts to a transformational experience for its target consumers, is evident from the success of this fundraising. As India moves towards organised retailers that offer standardised quality, comfort and speed in the shopping experience, we look forward to guiding BigBasket in its next phase of development,” said Omar Lodhi, partner and head of Asia, Abraaj Group.

According to a recent report by Goldman Sachs, the e-commerce sector in India is estimated to touch $300 billion by 2030.