Indian e-commerce site Snapdeal.com has raised $100 million in a round that that values the company at roughly $1 billion, according to two people familiar with the deal.
The company is set to announce the fundraising round Wednesday in New Delhi. Investors included Singapore state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings, asset management firm BlackRock and others, said Chief Executive Kunal Bahl. Credit SuisseCSGN.VX -0.42% advised Snapdeal on the round.
Snapdeal, which has a marketplace similar to eBayEBAY -0.64%’s for Indian consumers, has been expanding rapidly. It now counts 25 million users, up from about 15 million a year ago, and has been experimenting with same-day delivery, among other initiatives. It registered about $500 million in revenue for its fiscal year ended in March, a spokesman said.
“We need to keep investing in tech and marketing,” said Bahl. “There is a tremendous opportunity for e-commerce in India; it is a very small portion of retail today and will only expand.” He declined to comment on the company’s valuation.
Bahl estimated e-commerce today in India represents less than 1% of the $600 billion retail pie.
The latest fundraising is Snapdeal’s second this year. In February, it brought in $134 million from eBay, Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital and others. EBay and Snapdeal share listings across their sites, an arrangement that helps both companies expand their pool of potential buyers. In all, Snapdeal has raised roughly $350 million.
Bahl said he would use the money, in part, to grow Snapdeal’s 250-person engineering team and beef up its listings from small businesses.
Snapdeal is likely to seek an IPO in the U.S., Bahl has said, though he said the company has not yet hired banks or advisers to do so.
Reaching a $1 billion valuation would put Snapdeal on a par with buzzy startups like Evernote and Tango.
Date: May 20, 2014