Gyan Research weekly newsletter for Ecommerce sector

1. © Gyan Research and Analytics Pvt. Ltd., 2015 1
Industry News
 Shadowfax secures funding from Ecommerce companies
On-demand hyperlocal merchant delivery services provider, Shadowfax has received angel funding of
about INR1.95 crore from Snapdeal, Lake Ventures and Limeroad. The company, which processes about
3,000 orders a day, started its services in May 2015. Nearly 120-150 outlets in Delhi/NCR use its service
for last-mile delivery. Shadowfax plans to expand its business into 10 more cities and expand its
employees and rider base within the next one year.
 Alibaba to invest in mature Ecommerce companies
Alibaba has appointed three bankers - Citi Group, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America - to lookout for
investment possibilities in mature ecommerce companies in India. With a base of over USD 100 million, it
is interested in O2O (offline to online) space, apart from pure play e-commerce and mobile-focused
commerce companies. Alibaba is also planning to reproduce its China model in India for which it is
screening several firms on different set of metrics apart from the popular gross merchandise value
(GMV).
 Paytm, InMobi sign deal
Paytm and InMobi have entered into partnership that will increase revenue to INR 1,600-3,200 crore and
add around USD (250-500) million to gross merchandise value (GMV) by 2016. Paytm will sell digital
goods on its shopping app from InMobi's network and in return InMobi will sell physical goods through
Paytm's advertising network. This partnership will help consumers to discover about 15 million stock
keeping units (SKUs) on Paytm.
 Spencer's to foray into ecommerce
Spencer’s is evaluating a strategy of foraying into the e-commerce model, either on its own or in a tie-up
with hyper local start ups or a mix of both. Such a move would help the company to overcome logistics
challenges, while giving it a digital footprint. Though no time frame was given for the plan, Spencer's
expects e-commerce could help the retail major in achieving higher sales. However, pricing remains a
challenge, since e-retailers are engaged in deep discounting.
 Scramble to buy Tata's data centre
Google Inc and Amazon are in talks with Tata Communications to buy 74 percent of Tata’s data centre.
The salt-to-steel corporation will hold only a minority stake. Several private equity funds including
Blackstone Group, Carlyle, KKR, Bain Capital and Advent International are also in the fray. The deal is
expected to be worth about INR 4,261.4 - 4,589.2 crore. With this transaction, Tata Communications can
reduce debt burden, which stands at INR 9,178 crore, and concentrate on its core data carrier business.
Tata’s data center is spread across 44 locations in India and abroad.
E-Commerce News
August 15, 2015 - August 21, 2015

2.  Flipkart launch support facilities
Flipkart will launch seller-support centres called 'Flipkart One Stop' in 20 cities by the end of 2015. The
facilities will help sellers with various services such as training, registration, cataloguing and packaging. At
present, these centres are available in 10 cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Surat, Delhi, among
others. Flipkart has brought in agencies such as Browntape, Sellerworx, among others to onboard sellers
in various cities. This will help to streamline and simplify business process within a short span of time. The
company plans to induct 50-60 such agencies by the end of this year.
Investment news
 Askme to invest in MebelKart
Search engine Askme.com announced investments of USD 20 million in furniture etailer MebelKart.com,
in return for a majority stake in the company - in excess of 75 percent, while promoters hold the rest of
the stakes. The investment, planned over the next three quarters, will help both Askme and MebelKart to
get a noteworthy share of the profitable and rapidly growing but fragmented and unorganised
ecommerce market. MebelKart sells over 100,000 furniture products from more than 1,000 sellers across
India. Askme.
 Gadget 360 raises funds
NDTV's e-commerce venture, Gadgets 360 degree, has raised undisclosed funds from a group of investors
that included One97 Communications and Inflexionpoint. NDTV also announced appointment new CEO of
Gadgets 360 degree.
© Gyan Research and Analytics Pvt. Ltd., 2015 2
E-Commerce News
August 15, 2015 - August 21, 2015

3. Weekly Snapshot
© Gyan Research and Analytics Pvt. Ltd., 2015 3
Ecommerce News
August 15, 2015 – August 21, 2015
Source: Ministry of Communications andInformation Technology
Indian Ecommerce Startup Funding and Investment Chart (as on August 2015)
Company’s Name Location Investor's Name Investment Type Amount (in INR)
Snapdeal New Delhi Alibaba, Foxconn, Softbank Private Equity 332,350,000,00
Connect India New Delhi Aavishkaar Private Equity 332,350,000
NDTV’s ecommerce
venture Mumbai
Inflexipoint, Pramod
Bhasin, among others Private Equity NA
eSadar New Delhi Neha Vats, Gaurav Vats Seed Funding 5,317,600
NearBuy New Delhi Sequioa Capital Private Equity 1,063,520,000
betaout Noida
Amit Ranjan, Vijay Sekhar,
such others Seed Funding 332,350,00
Gadgets 360 New Delhi One 97 Communications Private Equity NA

4. © Gyan Research and Analytics Pvt. Ltd., 2015 4
Ecommerce News , August 15, 2015 - August 21, 2015
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