PepperTap acquires Jiffstore to boost online grocery space, raises Rs 26 crore

New Delhi: Online grocery delivery platform PepperTap has received $4 million (about Rs 26.5 crore) from Innoven Capital and looks to raise an additional $11 million (about Rs 73 crore) by January-end. [caption id=“attachment_2555132” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] The company, which has raised $40 million (Rs ​265.32 crore) so far in Series B, counts ecommerce firm Snapdeal, Sequoia India, SAIF Partners, Ru-Net, Beenext and JAFCO Asia among its investors. “We have closed our Series B round of funding with an additional $4 million (Rs 26.5 crore) from Innoven Capital, in addition to the $36 million (Rs ​238.79 crore) raised from Snapdeal (around September), Sequoia India, SAIF Partners, Ru-Net, Beenext and JAFCO Asia,” PepperTap CEO Navneet Singh said. So far, PepperTap has had a total fund raise of about $51.2 million (Rs ​339.61 crore), he added. “When we announced the funding from Snapdeal and others (of $36 million), we had said we will raise another $15 million (Rs 99.50 crore). Innoven has invested in us and we are in discussion for $11 million (Rs ​72.96 crore). This should be announced in a month’s time”, he said. The one-year old company has also acquired Bengaluru-based hyperlocal grocery delivery startup Jiffstore for an undisclosed amount. “Jiffstore’s team of 40 people will join PepperTap’s Gurgaon and Bengaluru offices. PepperTap aims to use synergies with Jiffstore to build an excellent customer experience,” Singh said. While he did not disclose the size of the deal, Singh said the transaction is a mix of cash and stock. He talked about expansion to other cities, Singh said the company is focussing to strengthen its presence in the cities of operation rather than adding new cities. “We have seen good growth across cities. We have grown from 27 orders a day in January to 20,000 orders daily by October. About 55% are repeat buyers. However, we think it is better to add more depth than to expand breadth. Our target is to get to 80,000-90,000 orders daily by the end of next year”, he said. Singh added that the company has seen the annualised gross merchandise value (GMV) grow from $1 million (Rs ​6.6 crore) at the beginning of the fiscal to $50 million (Rs 331.65 crore) currently. GMV is a term used in online retail space to indicate the gross merchandise value of the products sold through the marketplace’s platform over a certain period of time. PTI