UAE-based Abraaj Group, a leading investor operating in global growth markets, has announced that it led a $150 million round of fundraising for BigBasket, India’s foremost online grocery business.

The capital raise saw the entry of new investors such as the International Finance Corporation and Sands Capital and participation from existing investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Advisors, Zodius Capital and Ascent Capital.

The funding, which Abraaj has led through one of its funds, marks the Group’s third investment into the global e-commerce market, following its acquisition of stakes in Turkish online retailer Hepsiburada and Dubai-based mobile application taxi service Careem.

Abraaj has been present in India since 2006 and the partnership with BigBasket marks its third investment in India over the past five months, with previous transactions including Care Hospitals and the development of a gigawatt scale renewable energy platform in partnership with the Aditya Birla Group.

The proceeds of this round of fundraising will be used to finance BigBasket’s growth through further penetration into existing markets, expansion into Tier II cities across India, scaling-up of its recently launched express delivery and specialty store business that caters to top-up and emergency purchases, and increasing the product range offered to customers.

Omar Lodhi, partner and head of Asia for The Abraaj Group, said: “We are excited about the investment opportunities in India, a key geography for us, where we continue to identify and partner with market leading companies.  Abraaj will leverage its strong experience in the consumer sector to enable BigBasket to further enhance its strong domestic position.”

“The strength of BigBasket’s business, which amounts to a transformational experience for its target consumers, is evident from the success of this fundraising. As India moves towards organized retailers that offer standardized quality, comfort and speed in the shopping experience, we look forward to guiding BigBasket in its next phase of development.”

VS Sudhakar, co-founder of Big Basket, said: “We have a unique opportunity to build one of the largest grocery businesses in the country, whether offline or online, and we expect the capital raised in this round to enable us to do just that.”

“We intend to increase the reach of our just-launched one-hour express delivery service and also launch our marketplace for specialty stores in the coming months. This coupled with an expansion in our range of private label products will create a solid foundation for growth in both revenue and profitability. We are excited that Abraaj has chosen to lead this round and join the high quality investor set that we already have.” – TradeArabia News Service