Sulekha.com raises Rs175 cr from GIC and Norwest Venture Partners

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and venture capital Norwest Venture Partners have invested ₹ 175 crore in Sulekha.com, an online listings website.

The funding will enable the Chennai-based start-up to invest more in its mobile application, expand its application to additional categories and cities, and increase spending on branding and marketing.

This investment by GIC and Norwest is a powerful endorsement of the vast potential of the local services opportunity in India and Sulekha.com’s ability to execute it successfully, said Satya Prabhakar, founder and CEO of the company in a press release.

This is Sulekha.com’s third round of funding. In 2011, Japan-based Mitsui and Co. Ltd had invested $8 million, and in 2007 Norwest had invested $10 million.

Local businesses spend an estimated $2.5 billion in advertising across various media to capture $200 billion worth of local services bought in diverse categories—computer training, serviced apartments, wedding photography, party catering, home renovation, senior citizen care, yoga classes and babysitting, according to the company. Sulekha.com offers 800 such local service categories.

Sulekha.com is seizing an enormous opportunity in transforming how businesses find local customers and grow and expect a significant growth in business, said Promod Haque, senior managing partner of Norwest Venture Partners.