BigBasket Close To Raising Rs 800 Crore In Recent Funding

Online grocery service BigBasket is nearing the $120 million (~INR 800 crore) mark as part of its recent funding round.

Fundees & Funders

Led by Sands Capital, the funding saw participation from International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of World Bank, and Bessemer Venture Partners, which is one of its existing investors.

In addition to the investing magnates, Helion Venture Partners, Ascent Capital and Zodius Capital have already managed to stack up a whopping $57 million.

E-wow-luation!

“BigBasket’s valuation was pegged at Rs 2,100 crore, or about $320 million, ahead of the transaction, show filings submitted with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on November 30”, reported the Economic Times.

The sky evaluation makes BigBasket the country’s second-most valuable e-commerce firm focused on a specific segment, after online fashion retailer Jabong that was valued at about $483 million last year, added ET.

Competing Hard

BigBasket’s funding comes in wake of Grofers $120 million dollar funding last month from Japanese firm Softbank Corp. Grofers now sits atop a funded value of $165 million and an evaluation worth $300 million.

Grofers and BigBasket with fresh funding in their kitty are competing against similar models like Araamshop, Peppertap, etc. Joining the list are grocery retail chains like BigBazaar, NatureFresh which are coming up with their own models to takeover the online grocery market.

Regarding the soaring competition, BigBasket’s Co-Founder told iamwire, “At this point in time physical grocery stores would be our biggest competition and within them the large chains would take preeminence.”