Bertelsmann India Investments Leads Handpickd’s USD 15 Million Series A Fundraise

Bertelsmann India Investments Leads Handpickd’s USD 15 Million Series A Fundraise

Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) continues to strengthen its consumer-tech portfolio with a new investment in Handpickd, an innovative verticalized marketplace redefining trust and personalization in India’s fresh groceries ecosystem.

Addressing a USD 80 Billion Market Opportunity

India’s fresh fruits and vegetables market—a vital USD 80 billion segment within the country’s USD 600 billion grocery industry—has long posed unique challenges. While India’s quick commerce grocery market is projected to triple between 2024 and 2027, reaching INR 1.5–1.7 lakh crore (Kearney, 2025), quality and trust remain persistent barriers for online consumers. Many platforms deliver produce, but few replicate the confidence of handpicking fruits and vegetables at a local market.

Recognizing Handpickd’s potential to solve this real consumer pain point while building a scalable and sustainable business, Bertelsmann India Investments has led a USD 15 million Series A fundraise in the company. Founded by Anant V. Goel, Nitin Gupta, and Sahil Madan, Handpickd brings deep domain expertise and a vision-aligned team capable of executing at scale.

Redefining Fresh Produce Commerce

The unprecedented rise of quick commerce has made nearly everything available at the click of a button. Yet, one critical gap remains: quality and trust. While many services deliver fruits and vegetables, they often fall short of the traditional mandi experience—the freedom to pick, feel, and judge produce yourself.

Handpickd’s approach is refreshingly different. It first collects orders from customers, then buys the exact quantity and quality directly from farmers, delivering the produce to homes in the early morning hours. The entire process—from purchase to doorstep delivery—takes under seven hours, ensuring freshness while eliminating wastage across the supply chain. This innovative model addresses both operational inefficiencies and consumer concerns, setting a new benchmark for the sector.

Hyper-Personalization: A Mandi at Your Doorstep

Handpickd’s biggest differentiator is hyper-personalization, or what the team internally calls “match-making.” Customers can specify ripeness, size, sweetness, crunchiness, or even pesticide-free preferences for their fruits and vegetables. A customer might order three guavas with a note: “all must be sweet, two crunchy, one extra ripe—fit for an infant.”

This level of specificity—unheard of in India’s online fresh produce sector—demonstrates a deep understanding of consumer needs and the cultural nuances that make freshness personal.

As Anant explains, “It’s a mandi at your doorstep! A wide variety of the freshest produce and the freedom to choose what you want, all from the comfort of your home.” Handpickd replicates the nuanced, trust-based experience of a traditional market, but with the convenience and precision of technology-enabled logistics.

BII’s Perspective: Trust, Expertise, and Scale

Handpickd exemplifies a new way of thinking about the fresh produce ecosystem. Having backed unconventional, category-defining businesses such as Shiprocket, Eruditus, Scimplify, and Licious, BII’s investment in Handpickd reflects confidence in the founders’ experience and their ambition to build a sector-defining brand.

As Rohit Sood, Partner at BII, explains:
“With consumers getting so many goods and services at a click of a button, quality fruits and vegetables still remain a pain point. With Handpickd, we believe Anant, Nitin, and Sahil have found the right model to service this segment and create a lasting brand. Customer retention and customer love for Handpickd are the highest we have seen among consumer companies.”

The founders’ prior experience, particularly Anant’s with Milkbasket, has enabled them to design a system capable of scaling without compromising on quality or customer trust.

Sustainability and Responsible Commerce

Sustainability is a cornerstone of Handpickd’s model. With a plastic-free promise, the platform delivers produce in open, returnable trays, maintaining items in their near-natural form. Customers choose exactly what and how much they want—no forced pack sizes, no surplus buying. This not only preserves quality but also systematically reduces waste at every stage of the supply chain.

By connecting consumers directly with farmers, Handpickd ensures that every purchase supports local producers. This alignment of customer satisfaction, farmer benefit, and environmental responsibility positions the company as a potential category-defining brand in India’s USD 80 billion fresh produce market.

Looking Ahead

Handpickd is more than an e-commerce platform—it represents a shift in how fresh produce is sourced, personalized, and delivered in India. As it strengthens the talent pool, expand serviceability in existing geographies, and optimize their supply chain with new technology, Bertelsmann India Investments looks forward to supporting their journey in redefining fresh commerce.