Flipkart and Walmart have announced a $145-million joint strategic investment in Bengaluru-based fresh produce supply startup Ninjacart, the company said in a statement on Monday.
The latest capital infusion marks the third round of investment by Flipkart and Walmart into the startup. Flipkart and Walmart had previously invested in Ninjacart in 2019 and 2020.
With this round, Ninjacart has raised a total of $348 million to date in funding, according to Crunchbase data.
The latest investment is expected to further accelerate the startup’s plan to build technology and infrastructure to improve the agri value chain covering the ecosystem of farmers, resellers, retailers, consumers, and supply chain participants.
Ninjacart CEO and co-founder Thirukumaran Nagarajan said, “The funds will be deployed to build world-class teams, scalable tech platforms to organise and grow the network.” Founded in 2015, Ninjacart has been investing significantly in tech platforms and supply chain infrastructure over the past two years.
Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said, “With this investment, we are 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. Our investment and partnership in Ninjacart over the years is a testament to the continued commitment and success we have seen in our endeavor to create a democratic and organised agriculture market.”
Flipkart offers groceries in 1800 cities & towns and aims to take its offering to 2,000 more towns by mid-next year. Fresh fruits and vegetables will be an integral part of the expansion, per the statement. Flipkart is also working to bring efficiencies in the community e-grocery shopping model.
Ninjacart works closely with farmers and has to date enabled over 100,000 farmers across 150 villages to generate better revenues.
Earlier this year, Ninjacart inked an MoU with the Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare to strengthen the market linkages and promote best practices in the farming sector.