Grocery e-tailing picks up steam, Unilazer Ventures invests in EkStop

A couple of years back, eCommerce as a whole was the buzz and it seemed as if investors were ready to fund any eCommerce company that came their way. The hype fizzled away and now the market is seeing consolidation as startups shut shop or get acquired. Too many eCommerce also spawned the rise of niche eCommerce shops within which grocery is in the limelight at the moment. India is the 6th largest grocery market in the world with the market expected to reach $482 billion by 2020. This presentation by Chandni Sahgal has some useful information:

The early signs of excitement about the space came in with the likes of Big Basket re entering the market after a close to a decade and Bangalore based Zopnow getting funded. Here are some of the companies in the space:

Story of one of the oldes eCommerce players in the country: BigBasket

Bangalore based Accel funded Zopnow

Bombay based LocalBanya

New Delhi based Aaramshop

And in a new development, Unilazer Ventures has picked up 25% stake in Mumbai based EkStop. The company has been co-founded by Sumat Chopra and Shaurya Mehta in May 2012. This is a series A funding round of $2.5 million according to a report and the startup has partnered with over 500 brands to offer more than 8,000 products at the moment.

There have been a few companies like PuneExpress that have now shutdown but the signs look brighter now with some solid players spread across the country. We asked earlier in 2012 if India was ready to buy vegetables online? The answer is probably 'yes' now, atleast in Urban India.