MySmartPrice raises USD 10 mn in fresh funding

Comparison shopping portal MySmartPrice today said it has raised USD 10 million in a second strategic round of funding led by Accel Partners.
Venture funds -- Accel Partners and Helion Venture Partners -- are existing investors in the firm, the company said in a statement.
The current funding would be used to expand its shopping services to over 50 cities in the country, increased online reach to customers and target a gross merchandise value of USD 1 billion.
Started in 2010, MySmartPrice now aims to become an omni-channel player by adding inventory and pricing from offline stores to its product offering, it said.

The company is also expanding its teams across product and engineering, analytics, operations and marketing, it added.
Currently, it claims to cater to over 10 million unique users monthly.

"The fresh round of funds will be used to build a truly omni-channel platform which will facilitate users to search, decide and buy any product from any store, whether online or offline," MySmartPrice Co-founder and chief executive Sulakshan Kumar said.
The company will funnel significant investment into helping solve the product research problem for consumers as well.
"This will address issues such as researching for consumer durables, store feedback, better product suggestions based on expert reviews, opinions and peer consumer feedback," MySmartPrice Co-founder and chief operating officer Sitakanta Ray said.

Earlier this year, MySmartPrice ventured into offline listing for mobile phones in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi.
The start-up raised USD 0.37 million in May, 2012 and USD 1 million in Series A funding in December, 2013 from existing investors Helion Ventures and Accel Partners.