Craftsvilla acquires food start-up PlaceofOrigin

New Delhi: Sequoia-backed Craftsvilla Handicrafts Pvt. Ltd on Friday said it had ventured into the food segment with the acquisition of Bengaluru-based food start-up PlaceofOrigin in an all-stock deal.

PlaceofOrigin was founded by two former bankers, Ashish Nichani and Sudarsan Metla, in 2014. The company curates and takes to the market producers of ethnic Indian food items and local specialities across categories such as sweets, snacks, staples and health foods.

It currently claims to have vendors and customers across 20 states of India.

The 15-member team of the company will be joining Craftsvilla after the acquisition.

“Craftsvilla’s vision is to build a one-stop destination for consumers looking for ethnic products. We believe that ethnic foods is as big a category as ethnic wear, with a market size upwards of ₹ 50,000 crore, and we are looking at ethnic foods as another frontier of growth in the ethnic space,” said Manoj Gupta, co-founder and chief executive officer of Craftsvilla.

“Placeoforigin has been working in this category for the last two years and has been able to bring a lot of regional varieties online and address key logistical challenges in this space. We look forward to utilizing their experience and our reach to make this a huge category of Craftsvilla,” he added.

Craftsvilla raised $34 million in a funding round led by existing investors Sequoia and Lightspeed Venture Partners in November. Its previous funding was in January 2015 when it received $18 million in an investment round led by Sequoia.

In December, it announced it had set aside $10 million to acquire three to five companies across different sectors. This year, it acquired Mumbai-based logistics start-up Sendd.

Founded in 2011 by the husband-wife duo of Manoj and Monica Gupta, Craftsvilla has so far offered products across categories such as clothing, handicrafts, jewellery, home decor and art.

The company also plans to expand to Indonesia and West Asia by the end of 2016.