Retail

Taxi company Baxi ties up with two FMCG brands, services to begin in January


NEW DELHI: Gurgaon-based 74 BC Technologies, which owned and operated bike taxi service Baxi, has pivoted to a hyperlocal delivery model, having tied up with two major FMCG brands.

Baxi, which had raised Rs 10 crore in 2015 from a host of well-known early-stage investors, is in the final stages of launching its hyperlocal delivery service, which is expected to go live in January. The company, in its latest avatar, has also partnered with home-grown consumer goods brand Patanjali Industries and dairy major Mother Dairy.

As part of the pivot, Baxi will rebrand as B-fresh, and will deliver goods, across dairy, fruits and vegetables, drugs and other household items to consumers spread across Gurgaon and certain parts of Delhi, according to the company’s chief executive Ashutosh Johri.

“The idea was to tie up with retail chains, which had a significant physical presence, but do not have enough presence to create their own app,” Johri said. Baxi was founded by Johri and Manu Rana, both of IIT Delhi. Prior to starting Baxi, Johri led IT services firm Mara-Ison Technologies, while Rana served as chief product officer at IgniteWorld, which was formerly branded as Bharti SoftBank.

The B-fresh model is similar to that of US-based grocery delivery startup Instacart Inc, which recently closed a $600-million funding round, valuing the company at $7.6 billion. B-Fresh will also compete with the likes of home-grown grocery startups Alibaba-backed BigBasket and SoftBank portfolio company Grofers.

Under its new model, B-Fresh has brought 800 delivery executives on to its platforms, and through its partnership with Mother Dairy, will deliver products, including dairy and grocery items from over 2,000 stores.





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.