Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro.
GlobalBees, a nine-month-old startup based in New Delhi, achieved unicorn status after raising about $110 million in Series B financing led by Premji Invest, according to media reports. Premji Invest is the investment firm of Indian billionaire Azim Premji, chairman of tech giant Wipro.
London-based Steadview Capital, which focuses on investments in India, and existing investors SoftBank and FirstCry, a baby product e-commerce site based in Pune, also participated in the funding round, which values GlobalBees at $1.1 billion.
India has been minting plenty of unicorn startups this year. According to Forbes India, the country produced 26 new unicorn startups in the first eight months of 2021, up from just five in 2016.
Founded by Nitin Agarwal in April, GlobalBees partners and invests in direct-to-consumer brands in India and abroad, such as dietary supplements maker HealthyHey and eyewear brand Intellilens.
The pandemic accelerated e-commerce adoption as homebound consumers shop online. According to government-backed India Brand Equity Foundation, the Indian e-commerce market will grow to $111.4 billion in 2025 from $46.2 billion last year. By 2030, IBEF forecasts the market to reach $350 billion.
