Meat delivery startup TenderCuts to invest Rs 45 cr on Bengaluru expansion

Chennai-based seafood, chicken, and mutton delivery startup TenderCuts has embarked on an expansion plan involving a Rs 45 crore investment.

The start-up recently opened its first store in Bengaluru’s HSR Layout. “As part of its expansion in Bengaluru, TenderCuts plans to open 20 outlets by the end of this financial year,” Nishanth Chandran, Founder & CEO of TenderCuts told DH.

The start-up will be using the funds it raised earlier this year. It has raised Rs 110 crore from private equity firm Paragon Partners and NABVENTURES, the VC arm of India’s state-owned National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD).

“Our business is such that anyone who wants to come to the retail store and buy meat can do that also apart from ordering online which helps differentiate us from other players already present in Bengaluru, says Chandran. “We cannot ignore the fact that touch and feel are important to people which is why we will have retail outlets as well as operate online.”

Chandran says this is the USP of the start-up. At present, over 80 per cent of the start-up’s business happens online.

The startup sources its products mainly from neighbourhood farmers and some products from Chennai and Nagapattinam. He adds that most of the produce is fresh instead of delivering products from cold storage.

TenderCuts plans to raise another round of funds at the end of this year and use it for further expansion to cities like Delhi. It is already present in Chennai and Hyderabad. Bengaluru is the third city the meat delivery start-up has expanded to.

Chandran feels that his business would work out in Bengaluru, despite competition is the fact that the market is mature when it comes to shopping online. He expects Bengaluru to drive business growth and contribute to the company’s financials next fiscal year. “We have a Rs 250 crore to Rs 300 crore market to capture in Bengaluru”, he says.

TenderCuts would be competing with other start-ups like Licious, Fresh To Home, and Bigbasket among others.