Today, as we announce Snapdeal’s latest financial investment round, we would like to take the opportunity to share some more details with you. Snapdeal.com, India’s largest online marketplace has raised closed to $ 1 Billion this calendar year. The latest round of funding is from Softbank, the globally renowned investor in internet companies which include the Alibaba Group. With an investment of US$ 627 million, Softbank is now the leading investor in Snapdeal.com. This is the largest investment made by a single investor in an e-commerce company in India. Other existing investors have also participated in this round with a significant undisclosed investment.
Earlier this year, the company raised $133.77 million (Feb 2014) as a result of a round led by eBay and $105 million (May 2014) as result of a financial round which saw participation from institutional investors – Temasek, Myriad, Tybourne, Blackrock Inc. and Premji Invest. Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons – a renowned name in the Indian as well as global business circles, also made a personal investment into the company. These investments stand testimony to confidence displayed by investors in the company’s pure marketplace model and are in line with Snapdeal.com’s growth strategy and vision to create life changing experiences for 1 million businesses in India.
In order to further the tremendous growth Snapdeal.com has seen so far, the company will be making strategic investments in ramping up its efforts in Technology and Supply Chain Management. To strengthen its Technology efforts, the company will open innovation centres across the country. After Delhi, it has already opened its second innovation centre in Bangalore and plans to open innovation centres in cities like Hyderabad and Pune. The company will also double its technology team size to 1000 people by the end of the current financial year. To strengthen its Supply Chain efforts, the company also looks to expand its fulfilment centres to 30 cities. It currently has 40 fulfilment centres in 15 cities. With the vision to enable SMBs in India to do business online, Snapdeal.com aims to expand its merchant base to 1 million in the next 3 years. The setting up of fulfilment centres is in line with the same as it will not only enrich the shopping experience for buyers but will also further enable SMBs that do not have the necessary resources to handle deliveries at their end.
Further, Snapdeal.com will look to make 3-4 strategic acquisitions in the coming few months specifically in the area of mobile technology. With mobile commerce fast gaining pace in the country, Snapdeal.com within the next 6 months, will also set up an incubation centre to hone and harness start-up businesses in the mobile technology space.
