Subscription-based e-grocery firm RainCan raises Rs 1.75 crore

Pune-based online grocery startup RainCan has raised Rs 1.75 crore in its pre-Series A round. The latest funding led by Prabodh Agarwal, Group CFO, IIFL Holdings Ltd also saw participation from the existing investor Dr. Aniruddha Malpani.

As per company’s statement, the latest proceeds will be used to expand its delivery operation centres and set up a logistics platform to facilitate deliveries at a low cost.

The growth of RainCan is propelled by opening new delivery centres in different locations within a city, each centre delivering to a specific population, according to co-founder Kumar. "We aim to take the current four centres to 20 in Pune and Mumbai to achieve 100 crore annual revenue with positive cash flow in the next few quarters," said co-founder Singh, reported ET.

Founded in June 2015 by IIT-Bombay alumni Munendra Singh and Abhijeet Kumar, RainCan enrolls customers in a subscription model under which they offer morning and breakfast essentials such as dairy, meat, bakery, perishables, staples and more on a daily basis.

Kumar had earlier worked with startups like kisanbandhu and BITSATRACE while Singh was involved in growing exotic vegetables and flowers (in Rajasthan) and selling to major wholesale markets across north India.

Available on Android App, the company claims to deliver around 6000 orders daily in Pune and has crossed Rs 10 crore in revenue and is currently witnessing a month-on-month growth of 15 per cent.

Commenting on latest development, Prabodh Agarwal said, "Selling fresh produce online is still in its nascent stage, and the service is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years, as more customers discover its convenience."

He also added that, "RainCan has built a business model with good unit economics. With proper capital backing, it has the potential to satisfy many more customers."

In April 2016, RainCan had raised Rs 1 crore in its angel round funding led by Aniruddha Malpani and others. Earlier, it had raised Rs 64 lakh in seed funding from angel investor Ajeet Khurana and a number of other unnamed individuals in August 2015.

The startup competes with the likes of Satvacart, MrNeeds Suprdaily, Milkbasket, to name a few.

Image Credit:RainCan