Blinkit

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Blinkit
FormerlyGrofers (2013–2021)
TypePrivate
IndustryE-commerce, Online shopping
FoundedDecember 2013; 8 years ago (2013-12)
Founder
  • Albinder Dhindsa
Headquarters
Area served
India
Key people
  • Albinder Dhindsa (CEO)
ServicesOnline grocer
RevenueIncrease ₹2,289 crore (US$300 million) (FY 2020)[2]
Negative increase ₹−1,181 crore (US$−150 million) (FY 2020)[2]
Number of employees
2000+ (2021) [3]
ParentGrofers International Pvt Ltd
Websiteblinkit.com

Blinkit (formerly Grofers) is an Indian instant delivery service.[4][5][6] It was founded in December 2013 and is based out of Gurgaon.[7][8]

Customers of the company use a mobile application to order groceries and essentials online. Blinkit's employees then secure the items from their warehouse and deliver the items to the consumer within 10 minutes.[9] By November 2021, the company was delivering 1.25 lakhs order every day.[10] Blinkit currently operates in more than 30 cities in India. As of 2021, the company has raised about US$630 million from investors including SoftBank, Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital.[11][12][13]

History[]

Blinkit was founded in December 2013 by Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar as Grofers. [14] Having met each other while working for Cambridge Systematics during the late 2000s, they teamed up to enter the grocery delivery space. Their goal was to solve the problems (both on customer as well as merchant end) associated with the unorganized nature of the sector.[15] The startup piloted in Delhi NCR before reaching other cities in India.

Services[]

Blinkit primarily delivers groceries, fresh fruits and vegetables, mobiles and accessories, kitchenware, books, home and office needs, bakery items, pet care, baby care and personal care products, electronics, flowers, etc.[16]

After seven years of operations as an online grocery delivery service,[17] Blinkit introduced express grocery delivery in India, by building dark stores across cities. In July 2021, the company reported delivering over 7000 groceries in 15 minutes in Gurgaon.[18] A month later, in August 2021, it introduced 10-minute delivery in the top-12 cities, after completing over 20,000 under-15-minute deliveries per day across 10 cities.[19]

Controversy[]

In the last week of August 2021, there was an online controversy regarding the safety of delivery partners.[20] Blinkit's Founder and CEO Albinder Dhindsa clarified with a Twitter post – highlighting the mechanism behind express delivery along with a stat that there has been zero accidents.[21]

Rebranding[]

On December 13, 2021, Grofers[22] changed its brand name to Blinkit[23] in line with its vision to embrace quick-commerce.[24][25][26][27]

Funding rounds[]

Source:[28]

Transaction Name Number of Investors Fund Raised
Series A 1 US$500K
Series B 2 US$10M
Series C 2 US$36.5M
Series D 5 US$120M
Series E 3 US$58.6M
Series F 7 US$264M

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Grofers shifts base to Singapore". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b Vardhan, Jai; Tyagi, Gaurav (6 May 2021). "Exclusive: Decoding Grofers' actual financial numbers in FY20". Entrackr. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Grofers profile", Craft, retrieved 13 August 2019
  4. ^ Sarkar, John (13 December 2021). "Big Basket rival Grofers rebrands itself as Blinkit with eye on quick commerce". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  5. ^ Bhalla, Tarush (13 December 2021). "Grofers rebrands as Blinkit with quick commerce space heating up". mint. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  6. ^ India, Business Insider (13 December 2021). "Grofers puts on a new name, Blinkit, to show how the focus of its business is changing". Business Insider. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  7. ^ Sen, Sunmy (23 May 2016). "It's Grofers vs BigBasket in the grocery delivery app war". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Grofers has had a good run so far, aims at operational break-even by year end". Business Insider. 13 July 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  9. ^ "10 minute delivery". Business Today. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  10. ^ "We Are Delivering 1.25 Lakh Orders Every Day: Albinder Dhindsa Of Grofers". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  11. ^ Shu, Catherine (5 January 2016). "Indian Hyperlocal Delivery Startup Grofers Pulls Out Of 9 Cities". TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  12. ^ Ganguly, Paloma (26 November 2015). "Delivering groceries, Grofers bags big bucks from SoftBank". Tech in Asia. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  13. ^ Saligrama, Anirudh (15 August 2016). "How Grofers Is Battling Legal Notice That Was Served By Students". TechStory. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Grofers To Raise Over $55 Mn From SoftBank". Inc42. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  15. ^ Ankita (8 February 2016). "[EXCLUSIVE] "We started with a room and couple of people", Grofers Lets Us In On Its Clockworks". HungryForever Food Blog. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Albinder Dhindsa". Yo! Success. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Explained: The q-commerce model, how your order is delivered in minutes". The Indian Express. 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  18. ^ "Grofers Forays Into Instant Delivery, Delivers To 7,000 Households Within 15 Mins". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  19. ^ Bhalla, Tarush (23 August 2021). "Online grocer Grofers sets sights on under 10-minute deliveries". mint. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Grofers co-founder defends 10-min delivery service". YourStory.com. 29 August 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ Dhindsa, Albinder [@albinder] (28 August 2021). "I want to chime in about the hate we are getting for delivering groceries in 10 minutes... t.co/RNhFvd6ojV" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ "After giving up on 90-minute delivery five years ago due to lack of profitability, Grofers is now chasing 10-minute delivery". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  23. ^ "Grofers puts on a new name, Blinkit, to show how the focus of its business is changing". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  24. ^ "Grofers renames itself Blinkit with eye on faster deliveries". India Today. 14 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  25. ^ "Grofers rebrands to Blinkit in line with its 10-min grocery delivery plan; steps up hiring". Business Today. 13 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  26. ^ "Grofers rebrands as Blinkit, assures 10 minute delivery". Business News. 13 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  27. ^ "Grofers rebrands to Blinkit as quick commerce space heats up". VCCircle. 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  28. ^ Bansal, Varsha (15 May 2019). "SoftBank, Tiger Global deliver $220 million in fresh funds to Grofers". mint.

External links[]

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