India-based, corporate-backed e-commerce company Snapdeal has raised $200m in a round featuring media group Bennett Coleman & Co (BCC, also known as Times Group), the Economic Times reported today.
The round, initially reported on by LiveMint, was led by the Canada-based Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and included venture capital fund Iron Pillar and Singapore-based investment vehicle Brother Fortune Apparel.
Brother Fortune provided approximately $49m of the funding and BCC $3.5m, according to regulatory documents.
The round valued Snapdeal at between $6.5bn and $7bn, and reportedly consisted of primary and secondary components, though the company has not disclosed which investors sold shares.
Founded in 2010, Snapdeal operates an online marketplace similar to that of Amazon, though its closest competitor in India is its compatriot, Flipkart. Flipkart, valued at $15bn as of September 2015, is the only venture-backed company in India more valuable than Snapdeal.
The latest round brings Snapdeal’s overall funding to about $1.7bn, and follows a $500m round in August 2015 co-led by e-commerce firm Alibaba, manufacturing services provider Foxconn and telecommunications company Softbank.
Mobile software producer Myriad, Singaporean state-owned investment fund Temasek, investment manager BlackRock and investment firm PremjiInvest also took part in the round.
Snapdeal raised $75m in a 2013 series D round led by online auction site eBay and backed by Intel Capital, which acts as chipmaker Intel’s corporate venturing arm, Ru-Net and Saama Capital.
Intel Capital, eBay, Saama, Nexus Venture Partners, Kalaari Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners supplied $134m in series F funding for Snapdeal in February 2014, before Myriad, Tybourne, PremjiInvest, BlackRock and the Temasek added $100m three months later.
SoftBank subsequently paid $627m for a 30% stake in Snapdeal in October 2014.
The latest capital will be used to strengthen Snapdeal’s technology platform, logistics, payments and back-end infrastructure, a company spokesperson told ET.
Anup Vikal, chief financial officer for Snapdeal’s holding company Jasper Infotech, said: “We continue to make targeted investments in building internal and external capabilities that will enable us to consistently deliver optimal experience for the millions of buyers and sellers who transact daily on Snapdeal.”