Snapdeal receives $21 million from Luxembourg’s Clouse SA

Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd, which runs e-commerce firm Snapdeal, has received more than $21 million as part of its previously announced funding round from Luxembourg-based firm Clouse SA, according to documents available with the registrar of companies. The money was allotted 10 August.

Separately, BlackRock Inc., a mutual-fund investor in Snapdeal, has retained its valuation of the online marketplace.

BlackRock Science & Technology Opportunities Portfolio, a mutual fund run by the financial services giant BlackRock, valued Snapdeal preference shares at an estimated $24,583.2 per share, as of 30 June, according to a filing with US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

According to the company, it went through a stock split of 1:10, taking the per share price to $2,458.

BlackRock valued Snapdeal preference shares at $24,882.7 per share as of 31 December, filings show.

In February this year, Snapdeal announced it was raising $200 million in fresh funds from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and funds advised by venture capital firm Iron Pillar.

The money received by Snapdeal this month is part of the same round and appears to be coming in tranches.

According to the RoC documents, Jasper also raised about $50 million from the Singapore-based Brother Fortune Apparel Pte Ltd in Series J round in February. Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd had also participated in the round.

Interestingly, the latest inflow of funds has happened just ahead of the Diwali season, for which e-commerce are gearing up to fight the discounting battle and revive sales growth.

According to a report by Mint earlier this week, Snapdeal reported gross sales numbers of roughly ₹ 600 crore in July—a fall of more than 50% from the sales it had been generating until the end of last year. This was lower than what rivals Flipkart and Amazon reported.

While Flipkart reported gross sales or gross merchandise value (GMV) of less than ₹ 2,000 crore, Amazon India’s gross sales increased to more than 2,000 crore.

The slow funding environment and an attempt to cut costs and conserve cash also pushed Snapdeal to shut Exclusively, its online platform for premium and luxury fashion goods that it acquired 18 months ago.

According to industry experts, this Diwali season is expected to be a deciding period for the e-commerce industry, which will segregate the top performers from the struggling players.

Earlier this week, Snapdeal also announced plans to spend ₹ 200 crore on a campaign over the next 60 days.

Last year, Snapdeal.com raised $500 million mainly from Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group, Foxconn Technology Group and existing investor SoftBank Group, which then valued the Delhi-based firm at about $4.8 billion post money.

Founded in 2010 by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal as a deals site, Snapdeal now claims to have 300,000 sellers and more than 50 million products across 1,000 categories. Snapdeal currently delivers goods to more than 6,000 locations in India.

“The raising of fresh funds at a consistent pre-money valuation is reflection of the robust performance of Snapdeal and its continued focus on building a long-term business based on strong fundamentals like best-in-class customer experience and consistent growth in net revenue. There is huge interest in the digital commerce market in India and investors are keen to back the businesses focused on real performance metrics,” said a Snapdeal spokesperson.

Snapdeal is expected to get another tranche within the next three months, according to two people in know of the matter.