Fraazo, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand in the fresh veggies and fruits category, has raised $50 million in a funding round headed by WestBridge Capital. Existing investors Sixth Sense Ventures, Equanimity Investments, and Apar Group, as well as other family offices, notably Manish Choksi of Asian Paints, took part in the funding.

In the last several years, the fresh foods market has changed dramatically, with established players like Grofers and BigBasket boosting the stakes and competitors like Fraazo vying for a piece of the pie.

“We believe it has the potential to be a $300-$400 billion category and it is a three-to-four player market with room for everyone to grow,” says, Atul Kumar, cofounder and chief executive of Fraazo.

Kumar claims that the current investment round is a mix of equity and debt, and that it will provide the company another 12-18 months of runway. “We plan to enter newer geographies using this capital,” he said.

The latest fundraising round comes two months after Sixth Sense Ventures led a $15 million Series A round for the startup. “In the previous six months, our order volume has increased by nearly sixfold. We presently serve roughly half a million orders every month," Kumar said, adding that the company intends to reach 10 million monthly orders in the next 12-18 months.

Fraazo wants to build a network of over 500 dark businesses in the top 15 cities. It is now active in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

“We are impressed by Fraazo’s exceptional growth in a large market such as Mumbai. With the convenience of quick home delivery and a business model that befits rapid scale-up, we’re excited to partner with Fraazo as they extend their proposition to customers across India,” said Sandeep Singhal, cofounder and managing director of WestBridge Capital.

The company began by delivering orders in 90 minutes or less. That time has now been reduced to 15-30 minutes. “Faster delivery is becoming a hygiene factor where everyone is offering that. We now want to compete on the quality of the product and the customer experience,” Kumar said.

Like many of its competitors, the firm buys directly from farmers. “The online grocery segment (fruits and vegetables) is waiting to get disrupted and consolidated from the millions of offline retailers,” said Nikhil Vora, founder and CEO of Sixth Sense Ventures.

Fraazo intends to expand into additional categories such as dairy goods like paneer, curd, and flavoured milk, as well as the ready-to-cook market, according to Kumar.

“Fraazo presents an innovative business model providing a solution for a large and unorganised market being addressed by a pedigreed team with complementary skill sets,” said Rajesh Sehgal, managing partner at Equanimity Investment.