Jasper Infotech, the promoters of e-commerce portal Snapdeal has raised $627 million that translates to Rs 3,845 crore from the Japanese internet, media and telecom firm SoftBank. This investment from SoftBank is the highest single investment made in the Indian e-commerce history.
The e-commerce industry inIndiastarted booming rapidly after Amazon entered the space in June 2013. Consequently, the e-commerce companies inIndiastarting pushing aggressively to dominate the segment.
The investment got closed earlier this month and it makes SoftBank the largest stakeholder in Snapdeal that has raised almost $1 billion (approx. Rs 6,132.5 crore) in the current calendar year. It is SoftBank’s new unit, SoftBank Internet and Media Inc (SIMI) headed by Nikesh Arora that has made the investment and he will join the Snapdeal board soon.
He claimed thatIndiahas the third largest internet user base in the world despite its relatively small online market. IfIndiahas better, cheaper and faster internet access, it will surely experience a major growth. It has been stated that the firm will be making strategic investments in ramping its efforts in the technology and supply chain management and open innovation centers acrossIndia. Also, it will make three to four strategic acquisitions in the coming months.
Prior to SoftBank, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata invested in Snapdeal that was announced in August. SoftBank’s investment is a part of Snapdeal’s existing list of investors such as eBay, BlackRock (largest asset managed in the world), Premjilnvent, a personal investment arm of Wipro Technologies chairman Azim Premji and Myriad Asset Management and Tybourne Capital.
Kunal Bhal, Snapdeal’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer refused to disclose the exact round made by SoftBank. Apart from Snapdeal, SoftBank has also invested $210 million in Mumbai based ANI Technologies that owns and operates Olacabs, an online portal providing cabs and car rental services.
(Photo Courtesy: http://blog.snapdeal.com)
