Milkbasket Cofounder Anant Goel’s New Startup Sorted Bags $5 Mn

Former Milkbasket CEO and cofounder Anant Goel has ventured into the fruits and vegetables (F&V) segment with a new omnichannel startup, Sorted. A franchisee network of digital mom-and-pop stores, the F&V startup has so far raised $5 Mn in its ongoing seed round.

Sorted provides its customers quality fruits and vegetables that come straight from the farms.

Meanwhile, two other former Milkbasket senior employees, Nitin Gupta and Sahil Madan, have joined Goel in his quest as cofounders.

“Sorted is not attempting to change the way India buys F&V, it’s plugging the inefficiencies that plague the existing supply chains. We have undertaken multiple POCs over the last nine months to solve the known industry issues, especially wastage while answering for growth and profitability. Working closely with mom & pop stores, Sorted is here to capture a significant pie of this $160 Bn, high-frequency and high-margin category,” Goel said.

Sorted aims to make stocking and selling fruits and vegetables easier and simpler than procuring and selling the products of reputed FMCG brands.

One of the cofounders and the CEO of online grocery firm Milkbasket, Anant Goel, stepped down from the startup in 2021 after Reliance Retail acquired it for $40 Mn. Reliance Industries subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd confirmed the acquisition of Milkbasket later in 2021.

Milkbasket caters to household grocery needs in fruits and vegetables, dairy, bakery and more. Prior to the acquisition, the startup had raised $38.5 Mn across 11 funding rounds. Hence, Goel is an experienced entrepreneur in the F&V space.

The fresh fruits and vegetable delivery market has seen an uptick in adoption in the past few years, largely on account of rising digital penetration and pandemic-driven growth.

Last year, many startups in the segment raised funds, including agritech startup Akshayakalpa which raised $15 Mn as part of its Series B funding round. Chandigarh-based Harvesting raised $4 Mn and Deep Rooted secured $12.5 Mn.

According to a Bain & Company report, agritech investments in India could soar to $35 Bn by 2025 from $329 Mn in 2020.

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