Infibeam, Uread to raise Rs 245 cr

Indian e-commerce ventures, Infibeam and Uread, launched to sell books, are likely to raise around Rs 245 crore from venture capital funds by the end of this year.

Infibeam, the Ahmedabad-headquartered book-selling venture promoted by Vishal Mehta, plans to raise $40-50 million (Rs 180-225 crore) by the end of the year, said officials privy to the development.

Manu Midha, vice-president (planning and strategy), Infibeam, said, "We have not raised any money till date, and now, we are looking to raise money from venture capital. The funds would be used to build operational capabilities. We want to raise at least Rs 100 crore. Some investors have shown interest at a higher percentage, but we want Rs 100 crore. We are open for more funding, but at the right valuation. We have already signed up with a partner to help us raise the money." The company had earlier planned to raise Rs 50-100 crore.

Prakash eSolutions Pvt Ltd, which runs the web portal Uread.com, also plans to raise capital for funding the next round of expansion plans. Gaurav Sabharwal, co-founder of Uread, said, "We are looking to raise Rs 20 crore to diversify into different segments, we have started talks with investors this month."

Analysts say the race to raise money is heating up ahead of Amazon's India entry. According to Venture Intelligence, 24 investments were recorded in the e-commerce segment, pumping in $152 million, or Rs 714.4 crore, since January this year.

Infibeam was launched in 2007, with the concept of selling books. Since then, it has diversified into other categories which include mobiles, auto services and gifts. It has launched India's first e-book reader called Pi, a new version of which includes a Wi-Fi enabled system. The company plans to open two more warehouses to support logistics. Infibeam's traffic has seen a significant rise in the last three months, owing to the launch of its portal, buildabazar.com.

Uread was launched in January by Piyush Goel and Gaurav Sabharwal. It is partly owned by Prakash Books, India's second-largest distributor of books.

In the last nine months, Indian e-commerce start-ups have already lapped up more than $100 million.