Aimed at tapping the opportunity in Indian e-commerce space, eBay is leading a $133.77 million (about Rs. 830 crore) investment in online market place Snapdeal.
The US-based firm led a group of investors including Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Saama Capital to invest in the New Delhi-based Snapdeal.
Last year in April, Snapdeal had raised $50 million (Rs. 310 crore) from eBay-led group of investors.
After this round of funding, the total investments raised so far by the homegrown online marketplace rose to over $235 million (about Rs. 2,457 crore).
“We are excited to grow eBay India under a great management team and to invest in the complementary marketplace Snapdeal. India is a huge opportunity,” eBay President Marketplaces Devin Wenig said in a Twitter post.
Both eBay and Snapdeal in separate statements said eBay was leading a new $133.77 million (about Rs. 830 crore) round of funding in Snapdeal, raising its stake in the company following an initial investment made in 2013.
Commenting on the deal, Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl said: “All our current institutional investors including Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Saama Capital have participated in this round as well which is a strong endorsement of our team.”
With revenues expected to clock $500 million (about Rs. 3,100 crore) this fiscal ending next month and targeted revenues of $1 billion (Rs. 6,200 crore) by March 2015, Snapdeal is also eyeing a listing on US bourses to raise capital.
Launched in 2010, Snapdeal, with a headcount of over 1,000 people, offers products across more than 500 product categories through 20,000 sellers and delivers to more than 4,000 cities in India.
Besides Snapdeal, other large e-commerce players like Flipkart and Myntra have also led similar successful fund raising missions.
Flipkart has raised over $360 million (around Rs. 2,232 crore) in funding from various investors including Morgan Stanley Investment Management, the largest by an Indian e-commerce firm.
