Chandigarh, Jaipur and Chennai on the list of 15 Indian cities, USD 10 million will fund this expansion.
Mumbai-based hyperlocal delivery service Grab, is on the verge of closing a funding round worth USD 10 million, according to two people directly involved in the deal. It raised an early-stage round worth USD 1 million from Oliphans Capital and independent investor Haresh Chawla in April this year.
The company was founded in 2012 by Jignesh Patel, Nishant Vora and Pratish Sanghvi, who confirmed that the firm is looking to raise funds, but declined to comment on the size of funding. “We are looking to expand the delivery network to 15 new cities that include Chandigarh, Jaipur and Chennai,” said Sanghvi.
Grab is also improving its technology, investing in marketing initiatives and expanding the merchant network to 1,000 merchants by 2016. It provides its technology solutions to merchants for tracking orders and deliveries. “We work with over 450 merchants, do 4,500 transactions with a value of INR 35 crore. 85% is food delivery and the balance is medicines and other goods,” Sanghvi said.
Investment banking firm Merisis Advisors is advising Grab on its fund raising. Merisis declined to comment for the story.
The company charges merchants a flat fee, depending on volumes and value of the transactions. Sanghvi expects non-food deliveries to be 50% of total deliveries in the next six months. The company works with brands like Pizza Hut, Subway and Faasos. It has tied up with Burger King in India.
