Zomato is planning to strengthen its food operations further by investing in Grofers, an online grocery store. As per the reports, the food delivery giant may invest around $100 million in Grofers. Earlier, Grofers planned its listing but the online grocery platform changed its mind later.
Why Zomato Wants to Invest in Grofers?
Zomato, the biggest online food delivery firm in India, is widening its operations in the food sector. To capture the Indian market further, the startup may join Grofers as an investor. The internal reports suggest that Grofers may raise $100 million in a recent financial round, including Zomato.
If the discussion becomes a reality, Grofers will join the unicorn club with an over $1 billion valuation.
Earlier, there was a talk between Zomato and Grofers about the merger. But it failed due to unknown reasons. This is the second attempt by Zomato to get a partnership with Grofers.
Talking about the investors’ interest in Grofers, the startup released a statement without naming Zomato. It said:
“We are in regular touch with the investor ecosystem and are seeing a lot of inbound interest given grocery is an essential need and a high growth segment.”
Grofers further added:
“Given the dynamic business environment, there will always be room for speculation, but our team is focused on serving more families.”
Zomato IPO is Coming Soon
Last month, Zomato filed the documents to start its much-awaited Initial Public offerings ( IPO). The documents are under scrutiny in Sebi. The IPO may start very soon.
As per the detail submitted by Zomato, the IPO will offer equity shares of Rs 8250 value which is approximately $1.1 billion.
Out of these total equity shares, Rs 7500 crore will be the fresh offerings while Rs 750 crore shares will be on sale by Info Edge, an existing investor of Zomato.
Recently, Grofers has established itself as one of the main online grocery stores in India. The startup is competing against the big players including Amazon, BigBasket, and Flipkart.
