Chinese investors back Indian online marketplace Cashify
Cashify, an Indian online marketplace for used smart phones and electronics, has raised a $12 million funding round led by China-based GPs CDH Investments and Morningside Capital.
Aihuishou, a similar Chinese business also backed by Morningside, participated in the round, as did existing investors Shunwei Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Blume Ventures, according to media reports linked from Cashify's site. The company will use the new capital to expand its operations in India and add more warehouses across the country.
Founded in 2013, Cashify provides a platform where users can upload relevant information about their electronic devices. A representative then comes to the user's home and pays cash for the device after performing diagnostic checks. The company also receives devices from trade-in programs for companies like Samsung, Xiaomi and Apple, for which it controls reseller rights in India.
After obtaining the device and performing any necessary refurbishments, Cashify sells it on to a network of offline merchants that operate nationwide. The company hopes to augment this third-party network with its own online resale platform as well as expanding its recently launched chain of offline retail kiosks.
Cashify claims 90% of the devices it processes are smart phones, typically lower-end devices. It currently handles about 100,000 monthly transactions with an average ticket size of about $60. It hopes to double its transaction volume to 200,000 per month by next year. The company is also investing in tools to automate part of the testing and refurbishing process in order to maintain timely performance as it expands.
Shunwei was founded in 2011 by Lei Jun, co-founder of Xiaomi, and primarily invests in early and growth-stage companies in China. Investments in India include mobile gaming start-up Mech Mocha Game Studios and used car trading platform Truebil.
Indian technology companies raised $3 billion last year in 21 deals involving Chinese investors, with Shunwei participating in seven of these transactions. Cyber Carrier and Fosun Kinzon Capital have also been active in the country in recent years, with Fosun Kinzon establishing a co-investment arrangement with Iron Pillar Capital last year.
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