Accel-backed FirstClub raises $23 million from existing investors, Paramark Ventures and Aditya Birla Ventures

FirstClub founder Ayyappan R

Bengaluru-based FirstClub, a quality-first quick commerce startup founded by Flipkart veteran and former Cleartrip CEO Ayyappan Rajagopal, has raised $23 million in a Series A round led by Accel and RTP Global, with participation from Blume Founders Fund, 2am VC, Paramark Ventures and Aditya Birla Ventures.

Moneycontrol had exclusively reported last month that the Bengaluru-based startup was in advanced talks to raise about $20 million from existing investors including Accel and RTP Global, with new backer Paramark Ventures expected to join.

The round, which values the company at $120 million (Rs 1,050 crore), comes eight months after its $8 million seed raise, where Ayyappan’s former colleagues such as Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Myntra’s Mukesh Bansal, Groww’s Lalit Keshre and Curefoods’ Ankit Nagori — along with Cred’s Kunal Shah and others — also invested.

Since launching operations in June with packaged foods, bakery, dairy, and nutrition, FirstClub has opened four dark stores in Bengaluru, onboarded over 4,000 SKUs, and built a 180-member team.

With the fresh funding, the company plans to expand to 35 stores within six months, covering all of Bengaluru’s pincodes, and add categories such as home, kids’ food, pet care and gifting. It is also experimenting with formats like subscription deliveries and cafés in dark stores serving food made from FirstClub’s own ingredients.

Margins over speed

Unlike rivals chasing scale through heavy discounting and 10-minute delivery promises, FirstClub’s premium grocery positioning is naturally translating into stronger unit economics.

“We are operating with 2x average order values versus any other platform in this category. Our repeat rates are over 60 percent…and we are also operating with the highest gross margin in the industry,” Ayyappan told Moneycontrol.

That discipline extends to its dark store model. While most quick commerce operators set up dense networks in high-rent areas to shave delivery time, FirstClub runs fewer stores serving multiple pincodes.

“Instead of having three different stores in three different pincodes, we are operating with one store that services all three, which brings down capex,” Ayyappan said. By offering 30-minute deliveries, the firm is also able to locate stores in lower-rent zones.

The company is planning to fast-track expansion in Bengaluru with slotted deliveries and a subscription offering. “We realized that we can roll out our slotted delivery and subscription models much faster than quick commerce. So that is what we are currently focused on,” he added.

Beyond the top 10%

Despite its premium positioning, FirstClub is seeing traction beyond affluent households, with a significant portion of orders coming from lower-rent communities and even paying guest accommodations — a sign, Ayyappan said, of demand for clean-label groceries across segments.

“FirstClub has demonstrated rare early product-market fit within just three months of launch, building a full-stack platform with category ownership, operational discipline, and strong consumer love,” said Barath Shankar Subramanian, Partner at Accel.

Nishit Garg, Partner at RTP Global, added, “In a world of overwhelming product choices and confusing ingredient labels, FirstClub is closing the trust gap for Indian consumers.”

Execution, however, is not without challenges. Demand predictability remains a moving target, making it difficult to balance inventory without either wastage or stockouts. Rigorous quality checks across thousands of SKUs also stretch operations.

Ayyappan also said the company has explored acquisition opportunities in adjacent categories but plans to stay focused on organic growth in the near term.

“There are quite a few D2C brands in the categories we are looking to get into thst are available from an M&A perspective, and we have had on and off conversations. But for the next three months, we do not want to dilute our focus. But that is something we will definitely explore at some point in time,” he said.

With India’s quick commerce market pegged at $6 billion today and projected to hit $40 billion by 2030, FirstClub is betting its quality-first model can carve out durable ground. Over the next six months, its performance in Bengaluru — particularly through the festive season — will be a crucial test of whether the startup can scale trust into market leadership.