Milkbasket, a grocery micro delivery platform has raised $3 million from Unilever Ventures, the VC arm of FMCG major Unilever as part of its pre-series A Round. There are other investors also besides Unilever Ventures in this investment round.
Milkbasket is headquartered in Gurugram and employs an innovative top-up model while handling its micro-delivery service, since 2015. Starting with delivering fresh milk to homes each morning and has expanded using this base into including groceries also in its basket. Milkbasket’s service is limited to Gurugram as of now.
The operating model adopted is where customers place their orders before midnight and can expect their ordered goods to be delivered by 7 am the next morning at their doorstep. They include a range of grocery products in their list. Milkbasket’s model is also unique in the sense that they offer a flexi ordering and contactless delivery, considered a first for the industry. Their customers appear to appreciate this facility and Milkbasket has gained form this impression.
Milkbasket’s CEO, Anant Goel, said “We have always believed that Milkbasket’ s unique model will find its play in the large online grocery market. The endorsement from Unilever Ventures is an important mark of confidence in our potential”.
He further added that the startup is looking at a period of 4 to 5 years to expand to the rest of the country as well and they appreciate the support they are receiving from Unilever Venture.
Unilever Ventures is also quite upbeat about the prospects of Milkbasket and their take is that “some of the most disruptive emerging commerce models, leveraging Indian consumers’ habits and preferences” are bound to be successful.
Milkbasket has indicated that this this investment and Unilever’s expertise will be used in strengthening technology and in improving upon the product assortment they offer and enhancing their customer base.
Some of the other investors in Milkbasket include BLUME Ventures, Lenovo Capital (LCIH), Empower Investment, Hofan Capital, Draphant and angel investors including Peter Zou (CEO, YeahMobi), Vinay Bansal (ex-CFO, Wildcraft), Vikas Chauhan of 1MG and Deepak Jain of Bain & Co. In addition, a few select Milkbasket customers have also made investments in the startup