Online Grocery Delivering store BigBasket has raised Rs.45 Crores in venture debt financing from Trifecta Capital to meet capital expenditure requirements. BigBasket has raised the total of $291.76 Million from the total of 11 investors.
The Bangalore-based startup was founded in October 2011 by Hari Menon, V.S. Sudhakar, Abhinay Choudhari. Bigbasket.com is claimed as India’s largest online food and grocery store. The new funds will be utilised to set up new warehouses and strengthening the cold chain. Commenting on debt, Vipul Parekh, CFO and co-founder of Big Basket said, “Whilst we have access to equity capital, we are looking to optimise our capital structure. Venture debt is cheaper than equity, especially on a post-tax basis and will help reduce our overall cost of capital. Also, it comes without any end use restrictions. We chose Trifecta Capital for our debt needs because of their knowledge of the startup ecosystem, speed, and flexibility and to leverage Trifecta Capital’s deep network of relationships to build a sustainable and profitable business.”
BigBasket is currently operational in more than 25 Cities. The online grocery store has over 18,000 products of 1,000 brands which include fresh fruits and vegetables, packaged bread, bakery and dairy products, etc.
BigBasket’s CEO Hari Menon said: “We have a clearly identified use case for debt. We are present in 25 cities and continue to optimise our supply chain. A significant part of our business is fresh fruits and vegetables, the bulk of which is sourced directly from farms. It is crucial that we maintain the quality right up to the last mile. We are on the last leg of a pilot which will ensure that all fruits and vegetables are maintained at constant temperature and thereby improving the shelf life of the produce by almost 10 days. Funding such CapEx requirements are best done through debt.”
Trifecta Capital was found in July 2014, it is an early stage technology fund that invests in the best start-ups. San Francisco/Menlo Park-based venture capital firm invests in the very best technology companies, and in doing so empowers the next great founders in the market. The venture capital firm has also invested in startups like Molten, Equipment Share, Second Spectrum and others.
Speaking on the investment, Rahul Khanna, co-founder of Trifecta Capital said, “Trifecta’s strategy is to provide customised debt solutions to companies based on their specific business needs. We are also able to connect our investee companies to traditional businesses and banking channels. Equally, our LPs (Limited Partners) are eager to find ways to collaborate with our investee companies.” Read more about Indian Startup Ecosystem.
Recommended for you
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.