Snapdeal raises $200 mn

The company's valuation has now crossed $6.5 billion

One of the world's largest pension funds, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and Singapore-based investment entity Brother Fortune Apparel have led the 11th round of funding in online marketplace player Snapdeal. The latest investment is $200 million (Rs 1,367.6 crore) in Jasper Infotech-owned company.

With this, Snapdeal's valuation has gone past $6.5 billion, up from around $5 billion last August when it raised $500 million from a group of investors including Alibaba and Foxconn Technology. E-commerce major Flipkart's valuation is pegged at around $15 billion. Till now, Snapdeal has raised roughly around $2 billion.

"We see these investments as a continuing endorsement of Snapdeal's strategy to build India's most reliable and frictionless commerce ecosystem. 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," Anup Vikal, chief financial officer, Snapdeal said.

Over the past two years, Snapdeal has made significant investments in technology and in complementary acquisitions in pursuit of its aim to build India's most reliable and frictionless commerce ecosystem. Founded in 2010, Snapdeal has more than 275,000 sellers, 30 million plus products and a reach covering more than 6,000 towns and cities across India.

Ontario Teachers' is Canada's largest single-profession pension plan with $154.5 billion in net assets. Iron Pillar is a venture capital fund focused on filling the gap for mid stage technology investments in India.

Snapdeal's investors include SoftBank, BlackRock, Temasek, Foxconn, Alibaba, eBay Inc., Premji Invest, Intel Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and chairman emeritus of Tata Group Ratan Tata, among others.