There is never a dull day in the ecommerce sky. Every day we see new start-ups emerging, fresh fundraising rounds, strategic alliances, and few making an exit.
Here’s a roundup of Funds & Acquisition that transpired in the last few days.
Mumbai-based real estate search portal Housing.com recently acquired Bangalore based, HomeBuy360, a sales software firm for $2 million (Rs 13 crore). This acquisition will help the search portal to expand, improve efficiency and fine-tune its operations.
Housing’s COO, Rishabh Gupta said, “Developers are key stakeholders to drive efficiency in the Indian real estate sector. Our vision is that every developer uses HB360 to bring down their sales and operating costs. This will help in reduction of property prices eventually benefitting the consumers.”
Online furniture store, MebelKart is all set to receive $20 million (Rs. 130 crore) as local search engine, AskMe prepares to invest in the firm and buy a majority stake. In exchange of the major share, AskMe will help the etailer to scale up and build brand reputation along with pan-India reach.
Speaking about his investment, Manav Sethi, Group Head –Marketing said, “There are no major brands in this space beyond brands which are on the upper end of the spectrum. So, while we were looking at the furniture space very closely we stumbled upon this young team. They have not only built a good relationship with the merchants but they have also created an awesome online product.”
One97 Communications that owns Paytm has invested in NDTV’s tech ecommerce portal, Gadgets360. However, the investment amount hasn’t been disclosed. Earlier in May, NDTV’s ethnic fashion online store, Indianroots too had received $5 million (approximately Rs 32 crore) fresh funds.
While others are on a buying spree, eBay wishes to sell its Snapdeal stake. The American MNC holds 9% stake in Snapdeal, out of which they plan to sell 1/3rd of it in the next round of funding. eBay has been struggling in India for a while and even after numerous attempts the company has failed to click. Stiff competition from Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and now Paytm is making it even harder for eBay. And now that the company is selling its stake, does that mean it is nearing an exit? Only time will tell.
All in all, these are the good times for the ecommerce industry as money is flowing like the Niagara Falls!
Editor team is specialized in introducing the marketplace content targeting the Indian online sellers. They plan and coordinate to bring the appealing content for the small businesses on how to partner with the e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart and strategies for improving their online business.
Leave a Comment
