Tata-Owned Grocery Unicorn BigBasket Gets Fresh Infusion Of INR 1,000 Cr

Innovative Retail Concepts, the Tata-owned entity which runs the grocery unicorn BigBasket, has received a capital infusion of INR 1,000 Cr ($131 Mn) from its holding company, Supermarket Grocery Supplies, as per its regulatory filings.

The transaction was approved on March 31, said the filings accessed first by business intelligence firm Tofler.

Notably, Tata Digital owns around 64% stake in Supermarket Grocery, and Innovative Retail Concepts was made a subsidiary of the latter after Tata Digital acquired a majority stake in the same.

Tata Digital, a 100% subsidiary of Tata Sons, acquired a majority stake in Supermarket Grocery Supplies in April 2021, with the deal finally going through in May.

At that time, Pratik Pal, CEO of Tata Digital said, “Grocery is one of the largest components of an individual’s consumption basket in India, and BigBasket, as India’s largest e-grocery player fits in perfectly with our vision of creating a large consumer digital ecosystem. We are delighted to welcome BigBasket as a part of Tata Digital.” 

At the time of the deal, BigBasket had also received a primary capital infusion of $200 Mn at a post-money valuation of $2 Bn. So, the fresh investment makes it the second instance when Tata Digital opened its cheque book for BigBasket. However, this time around, the investment is about a third less than the previous investment.

The development comes at a crucial time for BigBasket, as in the wake of the launch of Tata Digital’s super app Tata Neu, the grocery platform is also contributing last-mile delivery manpower to other Tata Digital businesses that are on Tata Neu.

BigBasket is also a key part of Tata Neu, featuring as the grocery section on the app.

Recently, BigBasket acquired the enterprise business unit of deeptech startup Agrima Infotech. As part of the deal, BigBasket will implement Agrima Infotech’s computer vision technology platform, Psyight, at the self-checkout counters of its retail stores.

The acquisition comes barely months after Bigbasket forayed into the offline retail segment by unveiling its first technology-driven self-service store – Fresho, in Bengaluru in November of 2021.

The launch is part of the startup’s plan to open 200 physical outlets across India by 2023 and as many as 800 stores by 2026.

A report estimates that the Indian e-grocery market is estimated to touch $22 Bn by 2025. The same report had pegged the current market at about $3 Bn during FY21.

BigBasket was the de facto leader in the Indian e-grocery segment in FY21 with a lion’s share of 37%, followed by Grofers which had a 13% market share. Others such as Reliance Jio’s JioMart, Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, and Zepto also compete in the segment.

The development was first reported by ET.