Category: Grab

hhttps://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/ril-in-talks-for-majority-stake-in-startup-grab/articleshow/68192744.cms BENGALURU: Reliance Industries (RIL) is in advanced discussions to buy a majority stake in Mumbai-based hyperlocal logistics startup Graba Grub Services, according to two sources familiar with the development. The move comes after the Mukesh Ambani-led company said earlier that it plans to enter the e-commerce space. While the size of the acquisition could not be ascertained, a deal could close in the next few weeks and also involve an investment to scale up the venture further. Known as Grab, the startup provides third-party, last-mile logistics services for food delivery companies, online pharmacy and grocery delivery, among others. “Grab has been talking to potential suitors for the last six-seven months. The company had also held talks with Paytm for an acquisition,” said one of the sources mentioned earlier. An emailed query to RIL did not elicit a response till the time of going to press. When contacted, Grab co-founder Pratish Sanghvi declined to comment. Grab has raised over Rs 30 crore from financial investors like Oliphans Capital, SIDBI and Sixth Sense Ventures, besides strategic backers like Zomato and Dubai-based logistics company Aramex. The startup was founded in 2014 by Sanghvi, Jignesh Patel and Nishant Vora. It has delivered over 127 million orders across 49 cities. The client list includes McDonald’s, Flipkart, Amazon, BigBasket and Big Bazaar. It has offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru. The acquisition, if it goes through, will help Reliance with a new commerce push, which is expected to be launched by telecom arm Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail. Ambani had said last year that the company plans an online-to-offline (O2O) approach to build this business, leveraging the customer base of Jio and retail business besides kirana stores. Last month, Ambani had said the rollout of the business will start from Gujarat. “The new e-commerce platform will empower and enrich our 12 lakh small retailers and shopkeepers in Gujarat,” he had said. This is expected to pit Reliance against e-commerce giants Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, who control 70-80% of the market right now. Reliance has become increasingly active in making acquisitions and investments in the local startup ecosystem as it starts the next phase of expanding Jio into services. Last year, the company acquired music-streaming service Saavn and merged it with its JioMusic, valuing the combined unit at $1 billion. It also acquired education tech startup Embibe and committed to invest another $180 million in the company. Earlier this month, it announced three deals, including acquisition of 83% stake in vernacular language services startup Reverie for Rs 190 crore with a further investment of Rs 77 crore.

https://www.vccircle.com/reliance-eyes-o2o-commerce-space-may-buy-logistics-startup-grab In line with its plans to enter the e-commerce space, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is in advanced to buy a majority stake in Mumbai-based delivery services startup Grab a Grub Services Pvt. Ltd., two people in the know told The Times of India. While the size of the transaction is not known, RIL may invest in the firm to further scale up the venture, the report added. “Grab has been talking to potential suitors for the last six-seven months. The company had also held talks with Paytm for an acquisition,” one of the persons mentioned above was quoted as telling TOI. The deal, if realised, will help Reliance launch a commerce business via its Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail businesses. The business will operate under the online-to-offline model by leveraging Jio’s customers and the retail arm’s kirana stores, the report stated. According to TOI, Grab a Grub has secured over Rs 30 crore in capital from investors such as early-stage investment firm Oliphans Capital, state-run SIDBI, venture capital firm Sixth Sense Ventures, restaurant listings and food delivery firm Zomato and Dubai-based logistics company Aramex. Set up in 2012 by Pratish Sanghvi, Nishant Vora and Jignesh Patel, Grab a Grub offers third-party last-mile delivery services to businesses and merchants, including restaurants, e-commerce companies, retailers, grocers, pharmacies, food-tech platforms and banks. In another development, Gurugram-based online grocery startup Grofers India Pvt. Ltd has raised $60 million (Rs 430 crore) in a follow-on funding round led by existing investor SoftBank, several media reports said. The company’s post-money valuation has now touched $425 million, The Economic Times reported, citing data research platform Paper.vc. The report said that this was the first tranche of a larger round of $120-140 million. SoftBank is invested in Grofers through its Vision Fund. The online grocer’s other investors include Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital.

https://www.vccircle.com/hyperlocal-logistics-startup-grab-close-raising-10m-more

https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/india-dealbook-sixth-sense-invests-in-grab-stylofie-raises-250k-from-hks-swastika-20802/

https://www.vccircle.com/exclusive-sixth-sense-ventures-backs-hyperlocal-logistics-startup-grab/ Consumer centric venture fund Sixth Sense Ventures, floated by former IDFC Securities' managing director and its co-head of research Nikhil Vora, has invested in Grab, a Mumbaibased hyperlocal logistics service provider, adding it as the fourth portfolio firm for its maiden fund. The company, which is run by Grab a Grub Services Pvt Ltd,had recently raised funding from restaurant listing and online food ordering startup Zomato. Vora told VCCircle that his VC firm co-invested in Grab as part of the same round. “Sixth Sense Ventures has invested nearly Rs 7 crore ($1.5 million) in Grab as part of the deal,” he said. “Hyperlocal sector is becoming critical for growth. Now the hyperlocal deliveries are mainly focused on food stuff. Over a period of time, it could migrate to a lot of other services such as groceries and health care,” he told VCCircle. “And with Zomato on board as co-investor, the client’s new customer acquisition cost fundamentally becomes zero as it will introduce them in all geographies in the country,” added Vora. “While Zomato's association with Grab has started off as a financial investment, over time the relationship between the two will be a strategic one,” he said. Interestingly, Zomato had also invested in another hyperlocal delivery startup called Pickingo. Grab was launched in 2012 by Pratish Sanghvi, Jignesh Patel and Nishant Vora. An alumnus of Drexel University, Sanghvi served as a consultant in Blackrock for nearly seven years. While Patel, an alumni of Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, was earlier associated with Century Electronics & Electrical Equipment as managing partner for around nine years, Vora is an engineering graduate from Mohawk College and is also a promoter at Silver Foliage. Grab claims to have over 500 riders (delivery boys) in Mumbai and connects users to more than 350 restaurants. It claims to have delivered orders worth Rs 35 crore in Mumbai for the year ended March 31, 2015. In April, Grab raised $1 million (Rs 6.3 crore then) from Oliphans Capital and former Network18 CEO Haresh Chawla. It counts country’s top QSR chains Pizza Hut, Burger King and Subway and fine dining restaurant chains Mainland China, Oh! Calcutta and Punjab Grill as its clients. Sixth Sense Ventures  Meanwhile, Vora expects to complete fundraising for Sixth Sense Ventures' debut fund soon. The fund that was launched around two years ago had originally targeted to make the final close at Rs 250 crore ($40 million then) by mid-2014. However, this got delayed as the firm had to incorporate certain changes in its private placement memorandum and refile with securities market regulator SEBI. Domestic funds need to register under SEBI's AIF norms. Vora said the VC firm is presently raising money only from domestic investors including family offices, HNIs and institutions. “One of India’s lead institutions has committed to invest up to Rs 40 crore in our fund. Technically, the fund will announce closure by March 17 (2016) but we may choose to do it earlier. Some of the most marquee names of corporate India are participants in the fund and remain closely associated with Sixth Sense,” Vora shared. Sixth Sense Ventures has previously invested in three companies. In December 2014, it made its debut investment in luxury watches retailer Ethos Ltd. In January this year, it put money in Cross Roads India Assistance Pvt Ltd, a road side assistance provider for cars and two wheelers. In August, it joined several others to co-invest in media group NDTV 's ecommerce venture Gadgets 360 degree. It is also close to investing in another unnamed firm. Vora is independently also a private investor in several firms including One97 Communications, the firm behind mobile wallet and e-commerce firm Paytm; Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd (KKEL), which runs Kangaroo Kids Preschool and Billabong High International School; Vini Cosmetics, an FMCG company which raised funding from Sequoia Capital; sports-focused digital display solutions firm Technology Frontiers, backed by Avigo Capital and MRO AirWorks, backed by NEA and GTI Capital.