New Delhi: SoftBank-backed Grofers reported widening of its loss to Rs 448 crore in 2018-19 financial year, while its income rose by over 56 per cent from the previous fiscal, according to regulatory documents filed by the company. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 258.3 crore for the year ended March 2018, as per documents filed with the Corporate Affairs Ministry and sourced by business intelligence platform Tofler.
Grofers, which competes with the likes of BigBasket as well as grocery verticals of e-commerce majors such as Flipkart and Amazon, saw its total income grow by over 56 per cent to Rs 83.62 crore in 2018-19 from Rs 53.47 crore in the previous financial year. When contacted, Grofers CEO and co-founder Albinder Dhindsa said, “Grofers GMV (gross merchandise value) grew by 300 per cent to reach Rs 2,500 crore in FY 2018-19 and we are on track to double it to Rs 5,000 crore in FY 2019-20.’ He added, ‘We are now the largest grocery e-commerce company in India and are preparing to bring the next 100m customers online by penetrating into hitherto untapped socio-economic segments.”
Grofers’ numbers indicate the revenue it earned through retail margin/commission from brands and sellers. In May, the company had announced a fund raise of over $200 million from new investor KTB, and existing investors Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital. In September, Grofers had said it aims to cross the $1 billion revenue mark by the end of the year, helped by strong growth in both its online and offline businesses.
The company, which started operations as an online grocery platform, earlier this year said it is working with brick-and-mortar stores in Delhi-NCR to convert them into its own branded outlets. The company has been pursuing profitability by consolidating its presence in the cities of operations and is also gearing up to hit the capital market with an initial public offering (IPO) in the next few years.