One of India’s largest online marketplace, Snapdeal has got a big boost from the Japanese conglomerate, Softbank. SoftBank Internet and Media, Inc. and Snapdeal have announced agreements under which the SoftBank Group will become the largest investor in Snapdeal, through a total investment of $627 million.
Softbank has also invested in internet companies which include the Alibaba Group. With an investment of US$ 627 million, Softbank is now the leading investor in Snapdeal.com. This is the largest investment made by a single investor in an e-commerce company in India. Other investors have also invested in Snapdeal earlier with a significant undisclosed investment.
Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Corp. said on this investment, “Since SoftBank’s foundation, our mission has been to contribute to people’s lives through the Information Revolution. We believe India is at a turning point in its development and have confidence that India will grow strongly over the next decade. As part of this belief, we intend to deploy significant capital in India over the next few years to support development of the market.”
According to Snapdeal, these fundings will be utilised for “ramping up its efforts in Technology and Supply Chain Management. To strengthen its Technology efforts, the company will open innovation centres across the country. After Delhi, it has already opened its second innovation centre in Bangalore and plans to open innovation centres in cities like Hyderabad and Pune. The company will also double its technology team size to 1000 people by the end of the current financial year. To strengthen its Supply Chain efforts, the company also looks to expand its fulfilment centres to 30 cities. It currently has 40 fulfilment centres in 15 cities. With the vision to enable SMBs in India to do business online, Snapdeal.com aims to expand its merchant base to 1 million in the next 3 years. The setting up of fulfilment centres is in line with the same as it will not only enrich the shopping experience for buyers but will also further enable SMBs that do not have the necessary resources to handle deliveries at their end”.
Snapdeal, founded in 2010, has become the fastest growing and largest online marketplace in India, with more than 25 million registered users and more than 50,000 business sellers.
