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| Fashion and You raises $40 mn in venture funding |
| Piyali Mandal / New Delhi Nov 15, 2011, 00:31 IST |
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Fashion and You, an invitation-only shopping site, has raised $40 million (Rs 201 crore) from a group of investors led by Norwest Venture Partners and Intel Capital. This is touted to be the highest investment in e-commerce space in the country, signifying the growing interest of the investors’ community in the e-commerce space in India.
For the company, it was the third round of investment -- and also saw participation from Sequoia Capital India and Nokia Growth Partners. Fashion and You raised its first round of funding during its inception — from European and Indian private investors. In the second round, it raised $8 million from Sequoia Capital India. That was in December last year.
Confirming the latest development, Fashion and You CEO Pearl Uppal said today that the company would invest the fund in supply-chain management. “We’ll also expand into additional categories, and make strategic acquisitions to complement our existing business lines,” she told Business Standard.
“With this new capital, we have everything we need to exploit the opportunities offered by this vast and rapidly-growing market,” the boss said. Fashion and You aims to be Rs 500 crore firm in the next two years.
Uppal declined to comment on the stake Fashion and You has divested in this round, but market sources said the company could be valued around $200 million.
Founded in January 2010, Fashion and You is owned by Smile Group Venture and Goldsquare Sales India Private Ltd. It was co-founded by former Yahoo India Sales Director Uppal, and backed by Smile Group founder Harish Bahl. The company offers its registered users deals from designers at significant discounts, through limited-time sales. It already has a member base of 2.7 million.
Norwest Venture Partners India said Fashionandyou.com has managed to scale its business significantly because of its early mover advantage. “We believe this team possesses the ability to grow the company further,” according to Norwest managing director Niren Shah. “It can uphold the company’s leadership position in India as the e-commerce market continues to expand at a significant pace.”
Earlier Deals And You, another company backed by Bahl and Group Buying Global AG, had raised $ 17 million from a group of investors including Mayfield Fund and Norwest.
Last month, Valyoo Technologies that runs eyewear e-commerce site Lenskart.com, raised $4 million (Rs 19.5 crore) in its first round of funding from IDG Ventures India. The company also runs e-commerce sites Watchkart.com and Bagskart.com.
VC firm Helion Advisors had also invested an undisclosed amount in hoopos.com, a one-stop shop for mother care, baby and kids’ products.
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