BigBasket is an Indian online grocer headquartered in Bangalore, India, and currently owned by Tata Digital.[1] It was the first online grocer in India, set up in 2011. It is a registered company with the name Supermarket Grocery Supplies Pvt. Ltd.[10]
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | E-commerce, Online shopping |
| Founded | October 2011 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | , India |
Area served | India |
Key people | |
| Brands | |
| Services | Online grocer |
| Revenue |  ₹9,695 crore (US$1.2 billion) (FY23)[6] |
 ₹−1,750 crore (US$−220 million) (FY23)[6] | |
| Parent | Tata Digital |
| Divisions | |
| Website | bigbasket |
As of January 2023[update], the company operates in more than 30 cities in India and processes around 15 million orders per month.[1]
According to Bloomberg News, BigBasket is considering an initial public offering by 2025 as part of its growth plans.[3][11]
History edit
BigBasket began as a tech startup company, founded in December 2011 by five entrepreneurs who had survived the dot-com crash of the early 2000s. The startup was initially funded by private equity investor Ascent Capital (Bangalore) with a capital injection of $10 million.[10]
In 2015, Bigbasket acquired the hyperlocal delivery company Delyver to build its last-mile delivery network.[12]
By mid-2016, Bigbasket was operating in eight large Indian cities and had grown to become India's biggest e-grocer.[10] The company's unique selling point was delivery of fresh produce, based on the purchase of fruit and vegetables from local marketplaces each morning, storage in refrigerated warehouses and a fleet of temperature-controlled trucks to deliver fresh to the door.[10][13]
China's Alibaba Group led a $300 million funding round in early 2018 to become the main shareholder in the company,[2] taking the online grocer's valuation up to $950 million.[10] By May 2019, BigBasket was operating across 25 Indian cities,[2] and became India's newest 'unicorn' (a startup valued at more than $1 billion) by raising $150 million in a new funding round led by Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, the CDC Group and Alibaba.[14]
In October 2020, BigBasket suffered a data breach exposing the data of more than 20 million users, which included email, IP and physical addresses, names, phones numbers, dates of birth and passwords.[15]
The company was valued at around $1.85 billion in May 2021. Demand for online grocery shopping increased considerably in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and by the start of 2022, BigBasket was processing over 7 million orders per month.[16]
Tata Group became the owner of BigBasket in May 2021, when its Tata Digital subsidiary acquired a 64% majority stake in the company.[17] In January 2023, BigBasket received a $200 million injection from investors, including majority shareholder Tata Digital, taking the company valuation up to $3.2 billion.[1][3]
Products edit
BigBasket offers tens of thousands of different products, including fruits and vegetables, meats, spices, toiletries, baby products and pet food.[2][16] According to CEO Vipul Parekh, over one-third of the company's revenue comes from its private label products.[18]
Offline retail edit
On 24 November 2021, BigBasket opened its first physical store, branded 'Fresho', primarily for the sale of fresh fruit and vegetables. Located in Bangalore, this was the first of many planned Fresho stores.[16][19]