Venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) India, which invests on behalf of bank Wells Fargo, has re-invested $8m in a second round of funding for Pepperfry.com, an online lifestyle store run by India-based Trendsutra Platform Services.
The company raised $5m from Norwest Venture Partners in December 2011.
The money raised will be used to increase the number of lifestyle products being sold on the website and for setting up more fulfilment centres in Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai.
Niren Shah, managing director of NVP India, in a Live Mint & The Wall Street Journal news article said: “It is a big category and the opportunity is about $20 billion to $25 billion. They are seeing good traction also.”
According to a 2012 report published by investment bank Allegro Capital, 52 e-commerce start-ups raised $700m venture capital funding over the past three years. However, the report said that as little as 18 of those companies raised follow-on investments.
Other recent investments by NVP India include non-banking finance company Cholamandalam Investment & Finance, which raised capital in a qualified institutional placement.