Zomato and Tiger Global will invest around $120 million in the start-up, pushing it up to a valuation of over $1Bn. After this round of investment, Grofers will turn into a unicorn
IPO-bound food delivery platform Zomato has signed off on its long-held plan to invest in online grocery start-up Grofers. It is speculated that the deal has been officially signed on June 29, 2021, as part of which Zomato and Tiger Global will invest around $120 million in the start-up, pushing it up to a valuation of over $1Bn. After this round of investment, Grofers will turn into a unicorn.
This is not the first time Zomato and Grofers have tried to collaborate. Earlier in 2020, they were in talks for an all-stock merger that did not materialize. Now they are looking at collaboration at a time when online delivery is at its peak. Competition in the e-grocery domain is extremely fierce, with the likes of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail; the Tatas; the e-commerce giant Amazon; and many others rushing to claim a stake. Recently, BigBasket was acquired by the Tatas for Rs 9500 crore.
Saurabh Kumar and Albinder Dhinso together own less than 8 percent in the start-up, with the majority currently held by SoftBank. Other investors include Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, and DST Global. Sequoia is also an early investor in Zomato. While Kumar had announced leaving the start-up eight years after establishment, he will still remain a shareholder in the company.
Source: Business World
