BackSnapdeal raises another $100 million
The financing follows Snapdeal's previous round of equity financing of $133.77 mn completed in February
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Bangalore/New Delhi: Snapdeal.com said it raised $100 million, mostly from new investors including Temasek Holdings Pvt. Ltd, BlackRock Inc. and Premji Invest, less than three months after it had received $133.7 million.
Mint reported on Tuesday that Snapdeal was in talks to raise fresh funds.
“We see this financing round as another endorsement of Snapdeal’s differentiated strategy and progress as India’s largest online marketplace," chief executive Kunal Bahl said in a statement. “We are pleased to welcome several marquee global investors as our partners and believe their association will contribute to Snapdeal’s long-term success. Our mobile and internet commerce marketplace is now connecting millions of buyers to a very large base of sellers that offer products and services of national and international brands."
This financing follows Snapdeal’s previous round of equity financing of $133.77 million that was completed in February with participation from Snapdeal’s existing investors including eBay Inc., Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Saama Capital.
Snapdeal, promoted by New Delhi-based Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd, started in 2010 as a daily deals platform, selling coupons to groups of customers (similar to the Groupon model), but converted to a marketplace in late 2011—first offering services and then adding a wide range of products including apparel, books and electronics through third-party merchants.
A marketplace provides a selling and technology platform to other sellers. Indian law doesn’t allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in e-commerce but allows it in marketplaces.
Bahl had said in an interview with Mint in January that Snapdeal would generate gross sales (value of goods sold on the sites) of over $1 billion in the current fiscal year. The site gets to keep a percentage of that $1 billion.
In February, the San Jose, California-based eBay Inc. led a fund infusion of $133.7 million into Jasper Infotech. In April 2013, eBay led an investment of $50 million into the company. Entrust Group Inc. and US-based individual investor Kenneth Glass were the new investors in the February round, while venture capital firms Bessemer Venture Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Kalaari Capital committed funding in both rounds.
India’s e-commerce market, exluding travel services and tickets, is worth $3.1 billion and is estimated to grow to $22 billion in five years, according to CLSA’s November 2013 report.
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