Online marketplace Snapdeal is on a fundraising spree since the past 12 months.
The New Delhi-based company has raised about $100 million in a fresh round from Singapore state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings, asset management firm BlackRock and Bangalore -based Premji Invest, the company said in a statement.
Snapdeal's CEO and founder, Kunal Bahl said that the financing round is yet another endorsement of Snapdeal’s differentiated strategy and progress as India’s largest online marketplace.
"We are pleased to welcome several marquee global investors as our partners and believe their association will contribute to Snapdeal’s long-term success. Our mobile and internet commerce marketplace is now connecting millions of buyers to a very large base of sellers that offer products and services of national and international brands. We will continue to focus on creating life changing experiences for the buyers as well as sellers in the Snapdeal ecosystem," he added.
Credit Suisse acted as Snapdeal’s exclusive financial advisor and Indus Law acted as Snapdeal’s legal advisor for the financing.
The company had earlier this year raised $133 million from the existing investors led by eBay. So far the company has raised over $ 330 million since 2011 but in the last 12 months, it has raised about $280 million, including the latest round, thus valuing the company at $1billion. Compared to this, Flipkart has raised more than $540 million since its inception in 2007.
The funding comes at a time when India's largest online player Flipkart has completed acqusition of fashion portal Myntra for about Rs 2,000 crore. >Snapdeal in a recent interview told Business Line that the company was getting more aggressive and is also looking at two more acquisitions this year. In the last 12-18 months it has acquired Sequoia-backed ecommerce Shopo.in and product discovery site Dotzoon. However, these are very small acquisitions.
The company has also been ramping up its listings and categories as it faces stiff competition from Flipkart and global ecommerce giant Amazon. It has also recently entered the education and services category, into which its competitors have not entered so far.
Snapdeal launched in 2010, has more than 25 million members, 30,000 sellers, and 500 product categories. Kitchen appliances, electronics, musical instruments, couches, scooters, and clothing are available on the site.