IAN invests in Grohood, a neighborhood community buying platform

Grohood, a Neighborhood community buying platform, raised an undisclosed amount in its pre-seed round from Indian Angel Network (IAN). The company will use the capital to build its team and enhance its technological capabilities within the supply chain.

The social e-commerce platform wants to capture a 1% market share in India for fresh perishables in gated apartments which amounts to Rs 2.73 billion. Founded in May 2019, Grohood's goal is to enable suppliers to provide just-harvested/ produce fresh perishable items to 300 million urban families daily at a genuine price with bulk buying advantages without any storage.

With 3 patents and a unique supply chain solution, Grohood is enabling zero packaging, zero wastage, and zero warehouse in delivering fresh perishables to consumers. A brainchild of Prince Jose and Prem Chand, Grohood drew its inspiration when one of its founding members started getting fresh vegetables, fruits, and other produce items at a genuine price from one of his neighbors.

Presently serving more than 14 residential societies in Bangalore, Grohood has an expansion plan within Bangalore and further in Tier 1 cities like Mumbai. Grohood is a tech startup that provides a community buying platform for customers and suppliers, mostly for perishable items. The platform uses a unique proprietary solution for non-impulsive buyers.

Speaking about the funding, Prem Chand, co-founder, Grohood said, "At Grohood, we are passionate about enabling suppliers to provide just-harvested/produced fresh, mostly perishable items to 300 million urban families daily at a genuine price with bulk buying advantages without any storage. Current fund utilization would be to launch Grohood platform service for the entire Bangalore and make replicas ready for another Tier1 city."

"Bringing the native fresh, just-harvested perishable items to your community pickup point at a locally competitive price is a promising business model. As an emerging e-commerce model, community group buying improves the bargaining power of consumers. We are delighted to back a startup which is working on the sustainable model, and may help in minimizing the impact of the business operations on the environment", Padmaja Ruparel, co-founder, IAN said.