Premji may make e-tailing debut by buying Rs 300 cr Myntra stake

Azim Premji’s investment venture, PremjiInvest is likely to invest Rs 300 crorefashion etailer Myntra.The investment firm is likely to be a co-investor in the latest round of funding, which may also include British investor CDC, valuing Myntra at around $250 million ( Rs 1,500 crore), The Times of India reported today.

Myntra has so far raised $65 million from its existing investors .Myntra has raised four investments rounds far. In May it had raised $25 million, it had also raised $21 million round in Feb 2012, $14 million in March 2011 and a $5 million in November 2008.

Existing investors Accel Partners and Tiger Global will also participate in latest fund-raise. The e-tailer plans to use the funds for improving its back-end infrastructure and expand its operations across the country.

[caption id=“attachment_837985” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro. Reuters[/caption]

Founded in 2007 by IITians - Mukesh Bansal, Ashutosh Lawania and Vineet Saxena, Myntra.com is an e-commerce store for fashion and lifestyle products.

Myntra, India’s largest standalone fashion e-tailer, has stayed ahead of aggressive rival Jabong - backed by the German incubator Rocket Internet - in sales by gross merchandise value, analysts tracking the sector told ToI.Myntra, which aims to earn revenue of 800 crore this fiscal, expects to close 2015 with revenues of around Rs 2,500 crore.

The e-commerce space has so far depended on foreign investment and Premji’s entry could signal the arrival of Indian investors in this space.

The internet retailing market currently estimated at about Rs 4,63o crore has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 44 percent. The market is projected to reach Rs 11,350 crore by 2016, growing at a pace of 20 percent, according to a report by KPMG, With rising active internet users, and growing culture of smart-phones and tablets, people have started buying products online.

PremjiInvest specialises in private equity investments and has a corpus of more than $1 billion for private equity-type investments in listed as well as privately-run growth companies.

Through PremjiInvest, Wipro’s chairman Azim Premji has investedin several listed firms such as ABG Shipyard, Dish TV, JM Financial , Marico, Shoppers Stop Ltd, Koutons Ltd and Today’s Writing Products Ltd.Earlier this year, PremjiInvest exited its investment in Manipal Global Education Services.Over the past few months, PI has invested in companies in sectors such as textiles, healthcare, and hospitality, according to this Mint report .