Online Grocer BigBasket Raises Rs 45 Crores Venture Debt From Trifecta Capital

The online grocery market BigBasket has raised Rs. 45 crores from Trifecta Capital as venture debt. This funding is all done for setting up a new cold chain and warehousing facility which will offer facilities for reprocessing of fruits and vegetables.

CEO of BigBasket Hari Menon said: “We are currently present in 25 cities and continue to optimize our supply chain. A significant part of our business is fresh fruits and vegetables which are directly sourced from the farms. It is important that we maintain the quality right up to the last mile.”

He also added saying that they are on the last leg of a pilot which will ensure that all fruits and vegetables are maintained at constant temperature and thus improve the shelf life of the product by almost 10 days. This can be achieved by equipment such as pre-coolers and ventilators and that funding such CapEx requirements is best done through debt.

This e-grocer saw its sales grow 231% to Rs. 563 crores in the financial year ending March 2016. However, net losses zoomed to Rs. 277 crores from Rs. 61 crores as they signed up big stars as Shah Rukh Khan as a brand ambassador, increasing the cost per delivery and expenditure incurred on setting warehouses.

Abraaj Capital, Zodius Capital, Helion Venture Partners, Ascent Capital as well as World Bank’s IFC are some of the investors of BigBasket.

BigBasket clocks an average of 50,000 daily orders while its competitor Grofers does around an average of 10,000 orders.