Blinkit Explained

Blinkit
Type:Subsidiary
Location:Gurgaon, Haryana, India
Founders:Albinder Dhindsa
Saurabh Kumar[1]
Industry:Q-commerce
Services:Online grocer[2]
Key People:Albinder Dhindsa (CEO)
Products:Bistro
Revenue: (FY25)[3]
Parent:Eternal Limited[4]
Area Served:India
Former Name:Grofers (2013–2021)

Blink Commerce Private Limited, doing business as Blinkit (formerly Grofers), is an Indian quick-commerce company owned by Eternal Limited.[5] [6] [7] It was founded in December 2013 and is based in Gurgaon.[8] [9]

Customers of the company use a mobile app to order groceries and essentials online, which are sourced from the company's dark stores and delivered in 10 minutes.[10] Blinkit operates in 153 cities in India, as of March 2025.[11]

In 2022, Zomato Limited (now Eternal) acquired Blinkit for US$568 million in an all-stock deal.[12] [13]

History

The company, originally named Grofers, was founded in December 2013 by Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar,[14] who had first met each other while working for Cambridge Systematics during the late 2000s.[15] The startup piloted in Delhi NCR before expanding to other cities in India.

After seven years of operations as an online grocery delivery service,[16] Grofers introduced express grocery delivery in India in 2021, by building a dark store network. In June 2021, Zomato Limited (now Eternal) acquired a 9.3% stake in Grofers for $100 million.[17] In July 2021, Grofers was reportedly delivering groceries in 15 minutes in Gurgaon.[18] A month later, in August 2021, it introduced 10-minute delivery in 12 large cities.[19] [20] By November 2021, the company was delivering 125,000 orders per day.[21]

On 13 December 2021, Grofers changed its brand name to Blinkit[22] in line with its vision to embrace quick-commerce.[23] [24] [25] [26] By the end of 2021, the company had raised about million from investors including SoftBank, Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital.[27] [28] [29]

In March 2022, the cash-strapped Blinkit fired 1,600 employees and ground staff, nearly 5% of its total workforce. Soon after, Zomato granted a US$150 million loan to Blinkit and entered talks to acquire it.[30] [31] On 24 June 2022, Zomato announced that it would acquire Blinkit for US$568 million in an all-stock deal. The acquisition was completed on 10 August 2022.[32]

Services

Blinkit primarily delivers groceries, fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, stationery, bakery items, personal care, baby and pet care products, snacks, and flowers, among others.[33]

Criticism

In August 2021, the company's 10-minute delivery service faced criticism with concerns raised over the safety of delivery partners. CEO Albinder Dhindsa, in a tweet, defended the mechanism behind express delivery and claimed that there had been zero accidents.[34] [35]

In June 2022, a Bengaluru-based web development company called Blinkhit filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Blinkit.[36]

In April 2023, hundreds of Blinkit delivery partners in Delhi NCR, where about half of the company's dark stores were located, went on strike after a revision in payout structure resulted in lower earnings for them. This led to a temporary closure of many dark stores.[37]

In June 2024, the FSSAI conducted a raid on a Blinkit warehouse in Telangana, uncovering multiple food safety violations, including unhygienic storage and handling, expired food products, and packets suspected of infestation.[38] [39]

Funding rounds

Source:[40]

Transaction NameNumber of InvestorsFund Raised
Series A1K
Series B2M
Series C2M
Series D5M
Series E3M
Series F7M
Sale Zomato LimitedM

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Bhalla . Tarush . Kumar steps back at Grofers . 4 July 2022 . mint . 18 June 2021 . en.
  2. News: Grofers shifts base to Singapore. 17 April 2021 . The Times of India . en.
  3. Web site: Shareholders' Letter and Results - Q4FY25 . Eternal Limited . 22 June 2025.
  4. News: Rudra . Tapanjana . Zomato Completes Acquisition of Quick-Commerce Startup Blinkit . 25 August 2022 . Inc42 Media . 10 August 2022 . en.
  5. News: Sarkar . John . Big Basket rival Grofers rebrands itself as Blinkit with eye on quick commerce . The Times of India . 13 December 2021 . 23 December 2021.
  6. News: Bhalla . Tarush . Grofers rebrands as Blinkit with quick commerce space heating up . mint . 13 December 2021 . 23 December 2021.
  7. News: Grofers puts on a new name, Blinkit, to show how the focus of its business is changing . Business Insider . 13 December 2021 . 23 December 2021.
  8. News: Sen. Sunmy. It's Grofers vs BigBasket in the grocery delivery app war. 29 September 2016. Hindustan Times. 23 May 2016.
  9. News: Grofers has had a good run so far, aims at operational break-even by year end. 29 September 2016. Business Insider. 13 July 2016.
  10. News: 23 Aug 2021. 10 minute delivery. en. Business Today. 2017-07-26.
  11. News: Sur . Shreya . Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart Expand Dark Stores Rapidly; Zepto Slows Down: JP Morgan . 29 September 2025 . NDTV Profit . 22 April 2025 . en.
  12. Web site: Zomato acquires Blinkit for $568 million in instant-grocery delivery push . Singh . Manish . 2022-06-24 . TechCrunch.
  13. News: Zomato completes acquisition of quick commerce company Blinkit. Moneycontrol. 2022-12-15. en-US.
  14. Web site: Grofers To Raise Over $5 Mn From SoftBank . 2021-04-22 . Inc42 . en-US.
  15. Web site: Ankita . 2016-02-08 . [EXCLUSIVE] "We started with a room and couple of people", Grofers Lets Us In On Its Clockworks ]. 2021-04-06 . HungryForever Food Blog . en-US.
  16. Web site: 2021-12-13. Explained: The q-commerce model, how your order is delivered in minutes. 2021-12-13. The Indian Express. en.
  17. News: Singh . Manish . Zomato's $100 million investment to turn Grofers into a unicorn . 29 September 2025 . TechCrunch . 29 June 2021.
  18. Web site: Grofers Forays Into Instant Delivery, Delivers To 7,000 Households Within 15 Mins. 2021-09-23. Moneycontrol. en.
  19. Web site: Bhalla. Tarush. 2021-08-23. Online grocer Grofers sets sights on under 10-minute deliveries. 2021-09-23. mint. en.
  20. Web site: After giving up on 90-minute delivery five years ago due to lack of profitability, Grofers is now chasing 10-minute delivery. 2021-12-13. Business Insider.
  21. Web site: We Are Delivering 1.25 Lakh Orders Every Day: Albinder Dhindsa Of Grofers. 2021-12-13. Moneycontrol. en.
  22. Web site: Grofers puts on a new name, Blinkit, to show how the focus of its business is changing. 2021-12-13. Business Insider.
  23. News: Grofers renames itself Blinkit with eye on faster deliveries . India Today . 14 December 2021 . . 23 December 2021.
  24. News: Grofers rebrands to Blinkit in line with its 10-min grocery delivery plan; steps up hiring . Business Today . 13 December 2021 . . 23 December 2021.
  25. News: Grofers rebrands as Blinkit, assures 10 minute delivery . Business News . 13 December 2021 . . 23 December 2021.
  26. Web site: 2021-12-13. Grofers rebrands to Blinkit as quick commerce space heats up. 2021-12-13. VCCircle. en-US.
  27. News: Shu. Catherine. Indian Hyperlocal Delivery Startup Grofers Pulls Out Of 9 Cities. 29 September 2016. TechCrunch. 5 January 2016.
  28. News: Ganguly. Paloma. Delivering groceries, Grofers bags big bucks from SoftBank. 29 September 2016. Tech in Asia. 26 November 2015.
  29. News: Saligrama. Anirudh. How Grofers Is Battling Legal Notice That Was Served By Students. 29 September 2016. TechStory. 15 August 2016.
  30. News: Zomato to give $150 million loan to Blinkit . The Economic Times . 2023-01-17.
  31. News: Sahay . Priyanka . Srikanth . Chandra R . Zomato to extend $150-million loan to cash-strapped Blinkit . 29 September 2025 . Moneycontrol . 15 March 2022.
  32. Web site: Rai . Joseph . 2022-06-24 . Zomato to acquire Blinkit for ₹4,447 crore in all-stock deal . 2023-01-16 . mint . en.
  33. Web site: 2015-07-10. Albinder Dhindsa. 2021-04-06. Yo! Success. en.
  34. Web site: 2021-08-29. Grofers co-founder defends 10-min delivery service. 2021-09-23. YourStory.com. en.
  35. Dhindsa . Albinder . albinder . 1431566536439844869 . 28 August 2021 . I want to chime in about the hate we are getting for delivering groceries in 10 minutes... https://t.co/RNhFvd6ojV . en . 21 December 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211220145112/https://twitter.com/albinder/status/1431566536439844869 . 20 December 2021 . live.
  36. Web site: March 2023. Drama is all in the name.
  37. News: Blinkit strike: Why Zomato-owned company has shut down some Delhi-NCR Dark stores . 5 June 2023 . The Times of India . 18 April 2023.
  38. News: FSSAI discovers food safety violations at Blinkit warehouse in Telangana, action to be taken . 20 August 2024 . Mint.
  39. News: Zomato-owned Blinkit warehouse raided in Hyderabad: Company's response on these food safety violations reported . 20 August 2024 . The Times of India . 11 June 2024.
  40. Web site: Bansal . Varsha . SoftBank, Tiger Global deliver $220 million in fresh funds to Grofers . mint . en . 15 May 2019.

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