Zomato has increased its investment in Blinkit by Rs 1,500 crore, according to regulatory filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). It made an additional investment of Rs 500 in its quick commerce arm one month prior to this. The infusion coincides with Blinkit's aggressive opening of dark stores in an effort to hold onto its market leadership.
By the end of 2026, it intends to open 2,000 dark stores. In order to raise the average order value, it has also added SKUs like TVs, laptops, and printers. Since purchasing the online grocery delivery business in August 2022, Zomato has invested Rs 4,300 crore in Blinkit with this most recent investment.
Zomato raised Rs 8,500 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) November last year, mainly to strengthen its balance sheet and fund its quick commerce division.
The latest round of funding is expected to help Blinkit cover for rapid growth in the face of increasing competition. In Q2FY25, the company was almost at operational breakeven. However, in Q3FY25, its operational losses increased to Rs 103 crore, primarily due to the rapid opening of new dark stores.
The company stated that it will continue to open dark stores at a rapid pace until it reaches 2,000. This would necessitate more cash on the company's balance sheet. Its rival Zepto spends approximately Rs 350-400 crore per month to gain market share.
Another rival, Swiggy Instamart, is also working to grow its network of stores, which includes building bigger megapods to hold more product varieties.
Recently, it announced plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore in Scootsy, its supply chain subsidiary. This subsidiary runs dark stores for Instamart. Zomato's stock closed 3.32% lower on the BSE at Rs 222.60 per share.
