New BigBasket funding takes valuation over $1 billion

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Mar 29, 2019

BigBasket’s latest funding round has brought its valuation to $1.2 billion (Rs 7,983 crore) after the South Korean asset management firm Mirae, UK’s development finance institution CDC Group, and China’s Alibaba together invested $150 million in the online fast-moving consumer goods business.

BigBasket saw its valuation surpass the $1 billion mark for the first time following a new injection of funds, a rare feat for a privately owned company. TNN reported that Mirae now holds a five percent stake in the business after investing $60 million in the recent funding round. CDC now opens a 3.5 percent stake after investing $40 million and Alibaba’s stake has increased to 26 percent after investing an additional $50 million. The business’ last valuation was at $900 million after its previous $300 million funding round last year.

The news comes as BigBasket continues to focus on expanding its cosmetics offerings to tap into India’s growing beauty market. The business officially launched its first makeup range online in February this year.

Founded by Hari Menon, Vipul Parekh, Abhinay Chaudhary, and V S Sudhakar in 2011, BigBasket reported a 34 percent revenue increase to Rs 1,606 crore for the 2018 financial year. Losses also fell by 53 percent to Rs 310 crore during this time.