Grofers secures $120 million in series C funding from SoftBank

Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and Apoletto Managers also took part in the funding round, reports Tech in Asia

In a whopper of a deal, Grofers, a two-year-old start-up that delivers groceries and other products from local stores to customers on demand, has snapped up $120 million in a series C funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank, the Times of India reported today.

Others who took part in the round were Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and Apoletto Managers. This was the third funding for Grofers this year, and one of the largest investments at this stage raised by any Indian tech start-up, the paper said.

Gurgaon-based Grofers is an ecommerce start-up that connects consumers to brick-and-mortar stores through its mobile app. Users can order from over 120,000 products that include groceries, fruits, vegetables, cosmetics, electronics, bakery items, and flowers.
 

The start-up promises to be at the doorstep within 90 minutes. Going by its success, it looks like many Indians would rather have their stuff delivered than step out of their home.
 

“We are happy to welcome SoftBank on board as a partner as we try to build a marketplace for consumable products,” Albinder Dhindsa, founder and CEO of Grofers, was quoted as saying.
 

The start-up has over 10,000 small merchants on board in cities like Delhi, Gurgaon, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Jaipur, and Hyderabad, and hopes to expand with the latest funding.
 

Ecommerce players have also been moving into this hyperlocal space, making use of India’s huge number of well-stocked family-run local stores. Flipkart has its Nearby app, Amazon has Kirana Now, while other start-ups like Big Basket and Peppertap have emerged as well.

This has been sourced from Tech in Asia. You can access the original article here.