India home appliances marketplace raises $20m

Zopper, which focuses on home appliances and other large products, said in a release that it would use the funds to solidify its presence in India's major cities and engage more retailers. The company currently partners with over 500,000 offline retailers.

Like other hyperlocal Indian e-commerce start-ups, Zopper allows customers to order items online from local retailers. Since Zopper does not have its own logistics service, the retailers deliver the items themselves. Currently the company only offers its service as a mobile app.

This model has become increasingly popular in India's e-commerce sector, though Zopper is the only prominent player to apply it to bulky items. Online grocers in particular have been attracted by the ability to ensure quick delivery of perishable products, and investors have seen its potential as well. Grofers raised $35 million from Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital earlier this year, and BigBasket received a $33 million commitment in 2014 from Helion Venture Partners and Zodius Capital.

Zopper was founded as Reviews42 in 2011, and initially aggregated product reviews. Reviews42 raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Blume Ventures Advisors and VenturEast Fund Advisors in 2012, followed by a $2 million Series A round from Nirvana, Blume and Canaan Partners in 2013. Last year it received a $5 million Series B round from Tiger Global and Nirvana, after which the company changed its name and re-focused on retail.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Expansion
• Venture
• Technology
• India
• Tiger Global Management
• Nirvana Venture Advisors
• Growth capital
• Consumer
• TMT