Micro delivery startup Milkbasket is apparently having a good run on the fundraising front. After barely two months ago Milkbasket raised Rs 20 crore debt from Sachin Bansal’s investment firm BACQ, now it has announced fresh capital infusion of $10.5 million from existing investors – Unilever, Mayfield Partners, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures and several Indian family offices.
“While the industry is witnessing a number of players adopting our model, this funding – our largest fund infusion till date – is a testament to our robust execution, the team and continued trust of our investors in the growth of Milkbasket,” said Anant Goel, Co-founder and CEO Milkbasket to PTI (Press Trust of India).
If company’s recent filings with ROC is anything to go by then it is growing at 7X and closed last financial year with Rs 35 crore in revenue. We couldn’t ascertain company’s exact losses (including operating losses) that would have precisely summed up company’s current financial health and future economic prospects.
Milkbasket may be operating in a challenging industry where profit margins are really wafer thin but the substantial presence of loyal customers gives this industry a pretty positive outlook. It is probably this stickiness of customers that has compelled big players like Swiggy and BigBasket to try their luck in milk delivery space.
Both these well-known companies entered the industry through acquisition route. Swiggy acquired Suprdaily in all-cash deal and BigBasket acqui-hired small startups to consolidate its presence in milk delivery space.
The fresh funding will unarguably offer fresh breather and financial muscle to compete with newly arrived players that have strong financial reserves at their helm. Not to mention that both Swiggy and BigBasket are unicorn startups and this makes them more favorable for fundraising.
Separately, MilkBasket also competes with other well-funded startups like BBdaily and Dailninja in almost all its major markets.