Deals & You secures Rs 84-cr VC funding

Company valued at $85 mn in just over a year after it started operations.

E-commerce portal Deals and You said it had secured a funding of $17 million (Rs 84 crore) from a group of investors, including Mayfield Fund and Norwest Venture Partners. The company, which started its operations about 14 months ago, has been valued at $85 million, indicating the success of e-commerce portals in India.

The other investors included Nokia Growth Partners and Intel Capital. Though the exact amount of stake the company divested to these investors could not be ascertained, sources close to the development said it could be 18-20 per cent.

Gaurav Kachru, co-founder and chief executive of Deals and You, said the company was planning to become a more aggressive player in the e-commerce space with the funding. “We will invest the amount in four strategic areas — technology, infrastructure, talent and branding,” Kachru said. Deals and You is already in the process of revamping its website and the user interface.

Deals and You, which started operations in August 2010, is an online group buying site that features daily deals on the best things to do, see, eat, and buy in leading cities. It had earlier received a funding of $1.5 million from Group Buying Global AG. However, this was the first venture capital (VC) funding the company has received after its inception.

Though the global economy is going through a rough patch, e-commerce sites in India are witnessing increased interest from VC firms.

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 invested an undisclosed amount in hoopos.com, a one-stop shop for mother care, baby and kids’ products.

According to experts, with a growing number of internet users in India, the e-commerce space is likely to see more momentum.

India has the third-largest internet user base in the world, behind China and the US, according to a recent study by the Internet & Mobile Association of India.