Bigbasket is in the advanced stage of closing a $60 Mn funding round that will be spearheaded by existing investors Alibaba and Mirae Asset, according to Times of India (TOI). Along with Alibaba and Mirae Asset, UK’s development finance institution CDC Group will also contribute to the round, TOI’s report further claimed.
The upcoming round will reportedly value the Bengaluru based startup at approximately $1.2-1.3 Bn, which is almost the same valuation that the company commanded during its last funding round.
The funding, if it fructifies, will come at a critical time when BigBasket is not only looking to scale up its business but also streamlining its balance sheet. The Alibaba backed company has already ramped up its capacity to fulfill 3-3.5 orders each day as it looks for achieving increased delivery orders during the COVID 19 lockdown.
Being one of the daily necessities, groceries demand have skyrocketed during the lockdown period and likes of BigBasket and SoftBank funded Grofers are making every possible attempt to capitalize on the situation. However, logistical problems arising due to the lockdown period is acting as a huge dampener for these companies.
The capital infusion is also likely to help the company in stemming the competitive pressures emanating from major competitors. Apart from competing with Grofers, BigBasket has to compete with deep pocketed e-commerce players like Flipkart and Amazon. The recent entry of Swiggy has equally added to the competitive dynamics in the online grocery industry.
But not to be bullied by rising competition in the market, BigBasket is pursuing an aggressive strategy to gain market share. Its aggressive intent came to the fore few weeks back when it acquired milk delivery app DailyNinja for supposedly $20-25 Mn. The aggression has apparently also helped the company in maintaining its poster boy image in the online grocery industry.
