E-commerce juggernaut eBay has led a $50 million financing round for Delhi, India-based Snapdeal, a popular and growing online marketplace, reports NextBigWhat, citing sources.
The report has not been confirmed by either company, but we’ve reached out to Snapdeal and eBay to see if they have anything to add.
Update: Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl tells us the company is unable to comment on the report at this point.
The round, which also reportedly saw prior backers such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Nexus Venture and IndoUS Venture Partners putting more money into the company, would roughly double the amount of funding Snapdeal had raised to date.
Founded in 2010 by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, Snapdeal originally focused on daily deals, but quickly turned its attention to a full-fledged online marketplace model when it noticed a growing need across India for a horizontal online ‘one-stop shop’ à la Amazon.
Today, the company boasts 18 million registered users, handles transactions for 25,000 items per day and employs more than 1,500 employees.
NextBigWhat’s report comes mere days after Indian business media said Snapdeal was trying to raise $20 million from private investors at a valuation of $150 million (down from $300 million for earlier fundraising efforts, according to their reports).
Either way, it’s no secret running online shopping malls is a costly business, so we’re positive that Snapdeal has indeed raised more funding, or is in the midst of closing a big round to sustain its growth in an economically viable way.
More when we learn more.
(Via Tech in Asia)
Also read:
Indian e-commerce marketplace ShopClues gets a $10 million injection
In India, a time of flux approaches
Image credit: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
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