Online grocery store BigBasket raised $150 million in a fresh funding from a group of new and existing investors led by Dubai-based Abraaj Group. The new investors include the International Finance Corporation and Sands Capital, Abraaj Group said Tuesday.
Existing investors in the store include Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Advisors, Zodius Capital and Ascent Capital.
BigBasket operates in about 20 Indian cities, including Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Lucknow, Vadodara, Nagpur and Ahmedabad, and has a portfolio of over 18,000 products, according to its website.
The portal said it would use the funds to expand operations.
"We have a unique opportunity to build one of the largest grocery businesses in the country, whether offline or online, and we expect the capital raised in this round to enable us to do just that," said VS Sudhakar, co-founder of BigBasket, run by Supermarket Grocery Supplies Pvt Ltd.
The Abraaj Group said India offers many investment opportunities.
"We are excited about the investment opportunities in India, a key geography for us, where we continue to identify and partner with market leading companies," said Omar Lodhi, partner and head of Asia for Abraaj Group.
The Group's investments in Asia are about $1.4 billion spread across health care, financial services, logistics, consumer goods, and food and beverage.
The news comes against the backdrop of a slew of downsizing by such portals in the recent past.
Hyperlocal delivery start-up PepperTap shut shop in six cities last month. Earlier, similar decisions were taken by Grofers, TinyOwl, Foodpanda, TinyOwl and Housing.com.
India's increasing mobile services penetration is driving its e-commerce sector. The third-largest Asian economy is expected to have an internet base of about 400 million users by the end of this year, according to a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB.
