Blinkit Raises $100 Mn From Zomato; In Talks For Another $300 Mn

BlinkIt Estimates A Loss Of INR 92.9 Cr In July 2022; Revenue Of INR 74.9 Cr

SUMMARY

The investment comes as the first tranche of a $400 Mn funding round

In its latest earnings release, Zomato had said that it will be investing $400 Mn in the quick commerce category

Q-Commerce market in India is expected to reach $5 Bn by 2025

Quick commerce unicorn Blinkit has closed a new funding round of $100 Mn from food delivery giant Zomato.

In an internal note to Blinkit employees, as seen by ET, Albinder Dhindsa, cofounder at Blinkit, wrote that the company will focus on growth and on increasing its speed of execution, while also reducing its burn rate as much as possible.

“We have closed our next fundraise ($100 million) and will have money coming into the bank over the next week. We have come a long way in the last eight months by transitioning the business to the largest instant commerce player in the space,” Dhindsa’s note read.

This round is part of a larger round that Blinkit will be raising from Zomato. According to an ET report, the round is pegged at around $400 Mn.

In February, Inc42 reported that Zomato is looking to invest $400 Mn in the quick commerce category.

After Zomato’s $100 Mn investment in Grofers in August 2021, the company rebranded to Blinkit. Zomato said that with $1.7 Bn cash in the bank, it will look to capitalise on the growth seen by Blinkit in the past year as quick commerce took centre stage.

In August itself, Blinkit pivoted to Q-commerce, promising delivery within 10 minutes.

However, it must be noted that Zomato currently does not integrate Blinkit’s service within its app, while Swiggy offers Instamart and food delivery in the same app.

Till last year, Zomato had a grocery delivery vertical in its app, which it has since then removed and instead invested in Blinkit.

The company has an on-ground workforce of 30,000 and has opened 450 new warehouses and dark stores to scale its quick commerce plans. The company has taken tough calls, such as shutting 40 of its warehouses, to streamline operations.

As per a RedSeer report, the Quick Commerce (Q-Commerce) market in India is expected to reach $5 Bn by 2025.

In the segment, Blinkit competes against Dunzo, Swiggy Instamart, among others. In the egrocery segment, Blinkit locks its horns with Tata Digital backed BigBasket.