SAIF-backed HomeShop18 raises $14m round

According to a stock exchange disclosure, GS has committed $11 million, taking its total contribution to $29.5 million. It had already backed the company with $18.5 million in 2009.

GS is the third-largest home shopping company in the world and the leading multimedia retailer in Korea. It conducts global business through online retail partnerships in India, Thailand, Vietnam, China Indonesia and Turkey.

Network18 will remain the majority shareholder, with a 51% stake in HomeShop18. The deal values the company at $360 million, up from $330 million in April, when it raised $15 million each from OCP and Network18.

Earlier this month Ravi Adusumalli, managing partner at SAIF Partners, told AVCJ that HomeShop18 is in the process of listing and is still evaluating which exchange to list on.

HomeShop18 launched as a home shopping TV channel. In 2011 it expanded into e-commerce through HomeShop18.com. The company has a customer base of 7.5 million and reaches more than 3,000 locations across India. It claims that revenues have more than doubled over the last year.

"This round marks an inflexion point for the business as the company rapidly moves towards profitability while continuing to scale up revenues," said Sundeep Malhotra, CEO of HomeShop18.

The online retail sector in India has seen larger players raise funding to expand while smaller firms struggle to survive. Flipkart raised a record $360 million Series E round from Accel Partners, Tiger Global, Iconiq Capital, Naspers and Morgan Stanley Investment Management among others, while Snapdeal received $50 million from lead investor eBay, Intel Capital, Saama Capital, Russian VC ru-Net and Japan's Recruit Holdings.

 

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