 "Snapdeal raises $50 million in investments led by eBay")
Online retail platform Snapdeal has raised a massive $50 million in funding from investors led by online auction site eBay, according to this report by NextBigWhat.
According to the report, “The investment which was closed around 4 months back was led by eBay and received participation from existing investors - i.e. Bessemer Venture Partners, Nexus Venture and IndoUS Venture Partners. With this round, Snapdeal has raised total of $102 million of funding”
[caption id=“attachment_681617” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Screenshot from the site.[/caption]
The report was also confirmed by TechCrunch who said that the deal would make eBay a minority shareholder in the company.
But why would eBay invest in an Indian company that is a direct competitor?
According to the original report, it’s because the company needs to establish a strong presence in the Indian ecommerce market before Amazon does. This is corroborated in the TechCrunch report which adds, “Online e-commerce giant eBay last week said that it expects to have 12% of its sales coming from BRIC countries by 2015 in an global e-commerce market that will be worth $300 billion, and here is one more step in that strategy”.
Independent experts have estimated the e-commerce segment to have more than doubled in India to about $ 14 billion in 2012 from $ 6.3 billion in 2011, said a report in PTI.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe TechCrunch report added that Snapdeal had also had offers from companies like Amazon, but had decided to go with eBay because of its reputation.
Snapdeal has not commented on the issue.
The company has said however, that it expects the total sale of products traded on its platform to cross Rs 2,000 crore in the next fiscal helped by its robust growth in the past two years and the growing popularity of e-commerce in India.
“We expect the sale of goods on Snapdeal’s platform to cross Rs 2,000 crore in 2013-14 fiscal on the back of a strong growth. We have maintained a growth rate of about 400 per cent year-on-year in the last two years,” Snapdeal Co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl told PTI.
Besides, there has been a constant increase in the number of online transactions, which will also help Snapdeal increase its reach, he added.
Launched in February 2010, Snapdeal employs over 1,500 people and delivers to more than 5,000 cities and towns in India.
According to Bahl, the company presently has 5,000 brands and over a million products listed on its website, which it expects to increase to 25,000 brands and 20 million products in the next two years.
With inputs from PTI
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