Grofers Widens Losses By 56% As It Expands Partner Stores Network

Gurugram-based grocery delivery startup Grofers has reported a widening of its losses by 56% for the financial year (FY) ended in March 2019.

According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings accessed by Inc42, Grofers India Pvt Ltd, the registered entity of the company, reported losses of INR 448Cr for FY19. Notably, Grocers has posted a loss of INR 258.3 Cr in FY18.

The expenses of Grofers also grew to INR 531.6 Cr in FY19 from INR 311.7 Cr in the previous year, while revenues witnessed a spike of 56.5%. Grofers reported an income of INR 83.6 Cr this year from INR 53.4 Cr in FY18.

Albinder Dhindsa, CEO and cofounder of Grofers told Livemint that the company’s gross merchandise value grew by over 300% and reached INR 2500 Cr in FY19. “We are on track to double it to INR 5,000 Cr by FY20,” he added.

The cofounder further claimed that Grofers is now the largest grocery ecommerce platform in the country. Moreover, Dhindsa also revealed that the company is planning to add around 10 Cr (100 Mn) new customers this year.

Founded in 2013 by IIT graduates Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar, Grofers offers products across categories such as kitchen staples, FMCG products, personal hygiene products, household needs, among others. The groceries marketplace also plans to expand its catalogue to 1,500 products from the current 1,200 products by the end of 2020.

In order to cross $1 Bn revenue target, the SoftBank-backed Grofers has also decided to start getting more offline stores on board as vendors. Kumar said Grofers plans to get 50K offline stores on board in the next 30-36 months.

The company has also recently closed a $200 Mn funding round led by SoftBank. The round also saw participation from existing investors Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital as well as new investor KTB. Till now, the company has raised $501.8 Mn in multiple funding rounds. In addition, the company is currently valued at $1 Bn.