Online marketplace Snapdeal recently announced that it has secured an investment of USD 500 million led by Alibaba Group, Foxconn and SoftBank. Existing investors Temasek, BlackRock, Myriad and Premji Invest also participated in this round, the company said in a press release.
“We see this milestone as a significant endorsement of Snapdeal’s strategy and commitment to creating life changing experiences for millions of small businesses and consumers in India,” said Kunal Bahl, co-founder and CEO of Snapdeal.
“With global leaders like Alibaba, Foxconn and SoftBank, in addition to our other existing partners, supporting us, our efforts towards building India’s most impactful digital commerce ecosystem will be propelled further, enabling us to contribute towards creating a Digital India,” Bahl added.
For Alibaba, the investment in Snapdeal is its second in India. In February, the Chinese e-commerce major had picked up a 25 per cent stake in mobile commerce company Paytm for USD 700 million. When Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma visited India in April, he said that he wants to see a bigger play in India.
Snapdeal had raised more than USD 1 billion, from investors including Softbank (USD 627 million) and iconic business leader Ratan Tata (personal investment). As per market estimates, the new round would value the city-based firm at about $4-5 billion.
Snapdeal which was founded in 2010 has more than 150,000 sellers, 15 million-plus products and a reach to 5000+ towns and cities across India.
Despite the clarification, the beleaguered e-commerce firm has shutdown marketplace Shopo in February after a year-and-a-half of operations
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