Bessemer leads $50m round for Indian online grocer
Indian online grocer BigBasket has raised a $50 million funding round led by existing investor Bessemer Venture Partners.
The new funding round values BigBasket at $1 billion, according to a VC Circle report linked by Bessemer's Twitter feed. BigBasket will use the new funds to fuel its India expansion; the company hopes to enter 50 more Tier-2 cities in the next year.
Since its founding in 2011, the Bangalore-based BigBasket has raised more than $40 million from various investors. Among its prominent backers are Helion Venture Partners and Zodius Capital, which led a INR2 billion ($32.8 million) Series B round in 2014. Ascent Capital, which previously committed $10 million in Series A funding to BigBasket in 2012, also participated in the Series B round.
India's online grocery sector has seen considerable activity, with several start-ups raising significant amounts of funding. Although BigBasket had an early lead, other companies to attract investment include Grofers, which has raised a $10 million Series A round and a $35 million Series B round this year, both from Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital, and ZopNow, which received a $10 million commitment earlier this year led by Dragoneer Investment Group.
Bessemer is based in the US and provides growth capital investments to technology-oriented start-ups in India, Brazil, Europe, Israel, Russia and the US. Its investments in India include leading a $10 million Series B round for cab-booking service TaxiForSure, and participating in a $133 million Series D round for online marketkplace Snapdeal.
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