Blinkit Explained

Blinkit
Type:Subsidiary
Location:Gurgaon, Haryana, India
Industry:Q-commerce
Services:Online grocer[1]
Revenue: (FY24)[2]
Parent:Zomato[3]
Area Served:India
Former Name:Grofers (2013–2021)

Blinkit Commerce Private Limited, d/b/a Blinkit and formerly Grofers, is an Indian quick-commerce 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 lakh orders every day.[10] Blinkit currently operates in more than 30 cities in India. As of 2021, the company has raised about million from investors including SoftBank, Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital.[11] [12] [13]

In 2022, Zomato acquired Blinkit for US$568 million in an all-stock deal.[14] [15]

History

Blinkit was founded in December 2013 by Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar as Grofers.[16] 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.[17] The startup piloted in Delhi NCR before reaching other cities in India.

After seven years of operations as an online grocery delivery service,[18] 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.[19] 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.[20] On 13 December 2021, Grofers[21] changed its brand name to Blinkit[22] in line with its vision to embrace quick-commerce.[23] [24] [25] [26]

In March 2022, Blinkit fired 1,600 employees and ground staff, nearly 5% of its total workforce, in an effort to cut burn rate. Following this, Zomato granted a US$150 million loan to Blinkit. Zomato had acquired a 10% stake in company the year prior.[27] [28] Following numerous discussions, on 24 June 2022, Zomato announced that it would acquire Blinkit for US$568 million in an all-stock deal. The acquisition was completed on 10 August 2022.[29]

Services

Blinkit primarily delivers groceries, fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, stationery, bakery items, personal care, baby care and pet care products, snacks, flowers, etc.[30]

Criticism

In August 2021, the company's 10-minute delivery service faced criticism with concerns raised over the safety of delivery partners. CEO Albinder Dhindsa, in a tweet, defended the mechanism behind express delivery and claimed that there had been zero accidents.[31] [32]

In April 2023, hundreds of Blinkit delivery partners in Delhi NCR, where about half of the company's dark stores were located, went on a strike after a revision in payout structure resulted in lower earnings for them. This led to a temporary closure of many dark stores.[33]

In June 2024, the FSSAI conducted a raid on a Blinkit warehouse in Telangana, uncovering multiple food safety violations, including unhygienic storage and handling, expired food products, and packets suspected of infestation.[34] [35]

Funding rounds

Source:[36]

Transaction NameNumber of InvestorsFund Raised
Series A1K
Series B2M
Series C2M
Series D5M
Series E3M
Series F7M
Sale Zomato M

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Grofers shifts base to Singapore. 17 April 2021 . The Times of India . en.
  2. News: Zomato Q4FY24 results: Blinkit nearly triples its revenue; plans to reach 1,000 store mark. 25 May 2024 . Economic Times . en.
  3. News: Rudra . Tapanjana . Zomato Completes Acquisition of Quick-Commerce Startup Blinkit . 25 August 2022 . Inc42 Media . 10 August 2022 . en.
  4. News: Sarkar . John . Big Basket rival Grofers rebrands itself as Blinkit with eye on quick commerce . The Times of India . 13 December 2021 . 23 December 2021.
  5. News: Bhalla . Tarush . Grofers rebrands as Blinkit with quick commerce space heating up . mint . 13 December 2021 . 23 December 2021.
  6. News: Grofers puts on a new name, Blinkit, to show how the focus of its business is changing . Business Insider . 13 December 2021 . 23 December 2021.
  7. News: Sen. Sunmy. It's Grofers vs BigBasket in the grocery delivery app war. 29 September 2016. Hindustan Times. 23 May 2016.
  8. News: Grofers has had a good run so far, aims at operational break-even by year end. 29 September 2016. Business Insider. 13 July 2016.
  9. News: 23 Aug 2021. 10 minute delivery. en. Business Today. 2017-07-26.
  10. Web site: We Are Delivering 1.25 Lakh Orders Every Day: Albinder Dhindsa Of Grofers. 2021-12-13. Moneycontrol. en.
  11. News: Shu. Catherine. Indian Hyperlocal Delivery Startup Grofers Pulls Out Of 9 Cities. 29 September 2016. TechCrunch. 5 January 2016.
  12. News: Ganguly. Paloma. Delivering groceries, Grofers bags big bucks from SoftBank. 29 September 2016. Tech in Asia. 26 November 2015.
  13. News: Saligrama. Anirudh. How Grofers Is Battling Legal Notice That Was Served By Students. 29 September 2016. TechStory. 15 August 2016.
  14. Web site: Zomato acquires Blinkit for $568 million in instant-grocery delivery push . Singh . Manish . 2022-06-24 . TechCrunch.
  15. News: Zomato completes acquisition of quick commerce company Blinkit. Moneycontrol. 2022-12-15. en-US.
  16. Web site: Grofers To Raise Over $5 Mn From SoftBank . 2021-04-22 . Inc42 . en-US.
  17. Web site: Ankita . 2016-02-08 . [EXCLUSIVE] "We started with a room and couple of people", Grofers Lets Us In On Its Clockworks ]. 2021-04-06 . HungryForever Food Blog . en-US.
  18. Web site: 2021-12-13. Explained: The q-commerce model, how your order is delivered in minutes. 2021-12-13. The Indian Express. en.
  19. Web site: Grofers Forays Into Instant Delivery, Delivers To 7,000 Households Within 15 Mins. 2021-09-23. Moneycontrol. en.
  20. Web site: Bhalla. Tarush. 2021-08-23. Online grocer Grofers sets sights on under 10-minute deliveries. 2021-09-23. mint. en.
  21. Web site: After giving up on 90-minute delivery five years ago due to lack of profitability, Grofers is now chasing 10-minute delivery. 2021-12-13. Business Insider.
  22. Web site: Grofers puts on a new name, Blinkit, to show how the focus of its business is changing. 2021-12-13. Business Insider.
  23. News: Grofers renames itself Blinkit with eye on faster deliveries . India Today . 14 December 2021 . . 23 December 2021.
  24. News: Grofers rebrands to Blinkit in line with its 10-min grocery delivery plan; steps up hiring . Business Today . 13 December 2021 . . 23 December 2021.
  25. News: Grofers rebrands as Blinkit, assures 10 minute delivery . Business News . 13 December 2021 . . 23 December 2021.
  26. Web site: 2021-12-13. Grofers rebrands to Blinkit as quick commerce space heats up. 2021-12-13. VCCircle. en-US.
  27. Web site: Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem . 2023-01-17 . www.techinasia.com . en-US.
  28. News: Zomato to give $150 million loan to Blinkit . The Economic Times . 2023-01-17.
  29. Web site: Rai . Joseph . 2022-06-24 . Zomato to acquire Blinkit for ₹4,447 crore in all-stock deal . 2023-01-16 . mint . en.
  30. Web site: 2015-07-10. Albinder Dhindsa. 2021-04-06. Yo! Success. en.
  31. Web site: 2021-08-29. Grofers co-founder defends 10-min delivery service. 2021-09-23. YourStory.com. en.
  32. Dhindsa . Albinder . albinder . 1431566536439844869 . 28 August 2021 . I want to chime in about the hate we are getting for delivering groceries in 10 minutes... https://t.co/RNhFvd6ojV . en . 21 December 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211220145112/https://twitter.com/albinder/status/1431566536439844869 . 20 December 2021 . live.
  33. News: Blinkit strike: Why Zomato-owned company has shut down some Delhi-NCR Dark stores . 5 June 2023 . The Times of India . 18 April 2023.
  34. News: FSSAI discovers food safety violations at Blinkit warehouse in Telangana, action to be taken . 20 August 2024 . Mint.
  35. News: Zomato-owned Blinkit warehouse raided in Hyderabad: Company's response on these food safety violations reported . 20 August 2024 . The Times of India . 11 June 2024.
  36. Web site: Bansal . Varsha . SoftBank, Tiger Global deliver $220 million in fresh funds to Grofers . mint . en . 15 May 2019.