Unilever has joined an investment round in Indian grocery delivery service Milkbasket led by Bangalore-based Kalaarj capital.
The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant has invested through its venture capital fund arm Unilever Ventures. It is its second investment in Milkbasket, having previously backed the business in January.
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New Delhi-based Milkbasket has raised US$7m in the new round of Series A finding. BeeNext and Blume Ventures also participated.
Launched in early 2015, Milkbasket introduced an early morning, contactless, micro-delivery model akin to the prevalent newspaper and milk supply chain models in India.
Starting with milk and breakfast products, Milkbasket today fulfils the entire grocery needs of a household with a reach of more than 40,000 households in 180+ communities in Gurgaon.
Vani Kola, the managing director at Kalaari Capital, said: “Strong founding team, focus towards data-based decision making, operational rigour, and incessant focus on customer delight, backed by a large market opportunity in the grocery space culminated into us leading a $7m Series A round into Milkbasket.”
The company is going to use these funds for further innovations in supply chain efficiencies and last mile logistics, the creation of customer propositions and expanding into other areas.
Anant Goel, CEO at Milkbasket said, “We are very excited to have Kalaari and BeeNext join us in the journey to crack the online grocery space in a sustainable manner.
“This funding will help us to continue investing in the 3Ts that we hold close to our hearts – talent, technology and territory, and in achieving our vision to create the most convenient grocery fulfilment model for today’s busy households.”
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