Bangalore-based online grocery store BigBasket, has raised $150 million in a round of funding led by Abraaj Group with participation from International Finance Corporation and Sands Capital among others, reports the Mint. Existing investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Advisors, Zodius Capital and Ascent Capital also participated in the round. The company will use the fresh round of funding to expand its one-hour express delivery service and launch a marketplace for speciality stores. The company, which currently operates in 18 cities, currently claims to deliver one million orders every month. Prior funding: BigBasket had raised $50 million in a round of funding from Bessemer in August last year. At the time, the startup appointed Citigroup to help raise an additional $150 million from a new set of investors. The company said then that it would use the funding to expand to 50 tier 2 cities. In September 2014, BigBasket raised Rs 200 crore investment. Prior to that, BigBasket had raised $10 million from Ascent Capital in March 2012. GrowthStory’s Meena and K Ganesh had also invested in this venture. Downturn in the grocery segment: The online grocery delivery segment, after garnering all the attention at the start of last year, has slowly been faltering with multiple companies pulling out entirely, or slowing down operations. Recently, Ola shut down its food and grocery delivery businesses Ola Cafe and Ola Store, while Flipkart shut down its grocery delivery service Nearby, five months after its launch. Similarly, hyper-local grocery delivery service PepperTap shut…
