Sachin Bansal’s BAC Acquisitions calls off investment in Milkbasket

More than one month after Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal’s BAC Acquisitions committed to loan Rs 20 crore ($2.86 million then) to grocery delivery startup Milkbasket, both have mutually decided not to proceed with the deal, according to a joint statement that didn’t cite a reason for the move.

On 29 April, TechCircle had reported that BAC Acquisitions, founded in December 2018 by Bansal and his IIT-Delhi batchmate and former investment banker Ankit Agarwal, had offered to loan money.

Anant Goel, co-founder and chief executive of Milkbasket, had said the funds would be utilised to meet capital expenditure requirements as well as for research and development.

“Milkbasket...is now working on the next set of innovations to further consolidate its market leadership position... by automating the daily delivery supply chain and reducing the go-to market time for multi-city expansion,” Goel had said.

Earlier this week, Milkbasket raised its largest funding worth $10.5 million led by existing investor Unilever Ventures, the venture arm of consumer products company Unilever Plc., and joined by Mayfield India, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures and a few Indian family offices.

In December 2018, Milkbasket had raised $7 million (Rs 49 crore then) in an extended Series A round led by US-based early-to-growth-stage venture capital firm Mayfield Advisors.

Bansal has made a number of investments in his new avatar and is fast emerging as one of the most prolific investors. He has invested both debt and equity capital and pumped money in seed- and late-stage rounds.

BAC Acquisitions, set up six months after Bansal exited homegrown e-commerce firm Flipkart in May 2018, aims to invest across a diverse range of sectors including data sciences, healthcare, energy, media and entertainment, consumer goods, engineering, and retail.