Peak XV Leads BazaarNow’s INR 72 Crore Funding Round 

BazaarNow, an ecommerce platform focused on smaller cities, has raised INR 72 crore in a new funding round led by Peak XV Partners. 

The round also saw participation from Whiteboard Capital and Antler, along with angel investors including Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO of Meesho; Karthik Gurumurthy, former Head of Swiggy Instamart; Prashant Sachan, Founder and CEO of AppsForBharat and Sri Mandir; Arjun Purkayastha, SVP and MD, Reckitt Greater China and North Asia; Nitin Saluja, Founder of Chaayos; Siddharth Gadia, Co-founder and CEO of Zeno Health; Ayyappan R, Founder and CEO of FirstClub and former CEO of Cleartrip; and Aravind Charanyan V, Co-founder of FirstClub and former VP of Flipkart.

To date, the company has raised INR 80 crore in funding. 

Founded by former Zepto employees Priyanshu Jain, Arjun Harish and Tarithmay Mandal, BazaarNow is an ecommerce platform designed around the buying habits of middle-class households in smaller towns (tier 2 and tier 3) in India. 

Unlike a metro-first ecommerce model, BazaarNow focuses on local assortment, regional brands, fresh fruits and vegetables, simple ordering, and promises to provide transparent pricing and a vernacular-first user experience. For ease of use, it says the platform has no complex discount, coupons and wallets. It also offers assisted shopping, including call-to-order support, for users who prefer a more familiar buying experience.

“India’s quick commerce market has grown rapidly over the past few years, but the category remains largely concentrated in large urban centres. For millions of Indian households, grocery buying still revolves around a mix of local mandis, kirana stores and offline retail for everyday grocery needs. In these markets, grocery buying is deeply habitual. Families buy fruits and vegetables early in the morning, pick up staples from neighbourhood stores, and make frequent, routine purchases driven by convenience, trust, freshness and price.

BazaarNow is building for this reality, rather than trying to replicate a metro-first ecommerce model,” the company said in a statement.

BazaarNow cofounder and CEO Jain says that the quick commerce for the smaller towns and cities should be built differently and that customers should get the right local assortment, fresh produce, simple ordering and fair pricing every day.

The company says in its first pilot city it scaled to more than 1,800 orders per day per store. Over the next 6 to 12 months it plans to expand surrounding towns and density clusters, deepen its assortment across grocery and daily essentials, strengthen its supply chain, and continue improving its “local-language and habit-led product experience.”

“India’s emerging cities represent one of the most important consumption opportunities of the next decade, but they need products built with a deep understanding of local habits, price points and operating realities,” said Abhishek Mohan, Managing Director, Peak XV.

“The BazaarNow team brings rare operating depth across ecommerce and quick commerce, and is approaching the category with clarity and discipline. They are not simply replicating metro-first models across India. They are building a commerce experience that is local, simple, efficient and deeply relevant to how millions of Indian households already buy.” said Abhishek Mohan, Managing Director, Peak XV.