Flipkart and its parent Walmart Inc. are together investing $145 million in agritech platform Ninjacart to strengthen their grocery supply chains amid mounting competition from JioMart, Amazon India, Tata-owned BigBasket, among other peers.
The investment will help Ninjacart build technology and infrastructure to organise, empower and enhance the lives of millions of agri-value chain participants, including farmers, resellers, retailers, consumers, and supply chain participants, according to a Flipkart statement. Ninjacart, it said, has been investing significantly in tech platforms and supply-chain infrastructure over the past two years.
“With this investment, we're further able to strengthen our grocery footprint and offering as consumers across the country throng to e-grocery for quality and affordable options in the fresh category,” Kalyan Krishnamurthy, chief executive officer of Flipkart Group, was quoted as saying in the statement.
The round is expected to take the valuation of six-year-old Ninjacart—that deals in fresh produce supply—to north of $700 million. The third investment by the duo into Ninjacart comes at a time when competition in the online grocery market has surged, especially in the quick commerce space.
Flipkart, meanwhile, said it offers groceries in 1,800 cities and towns and aims to take it to more than 2,000 more towns by the middle of next year. Fresh fruits and vegetables will be integral part to this expansion.
“Flipkart is also working to bring efficiencies in the community e-grocery shopping model,” the statement said, adding the company has intensified its focus on partnering with farmer producer organisations to provide access to high-quality fresh produce, staples, pulses and spices.
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