The Venture Codex

Participated · Series C · Apr 2013

Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Ltd) is an Indian online marketplace operating an e‑commerce platform. The company has struggled against Flipkart and Amazon India and has been engaged in talks to sell itself to Flipkart amid a boardroom battle involving major investors and its co‑founders. SoftBank, Snapdeal’s largest investor, has pushed for a sale while Nexus, Kalaari Capital and co‑founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal were initially opposed. The company received emergency financing of Rs113 crore from existing investor Nexus Venture Partners and the co‑founders. Documents show Nexus was issued shares worth Rs96.26 crore and founders Bahl and Bansal received shares worth Rs8.45 crore each; one person said the issuance is connected to Snapdeal’s 2015 acquisition of Unicommerce, where those parties held stakes, though Mint couldn’t verify this. Mint reported on April 28 that Snapdeal had cash reserves left for less than four months. The company is based in Bengaluru. Snapdeal is a six-year-old Indian e-commerce marketplace that lists over 30 million products from about 275,000 sellers and reaches more than 6,000 towns and cities. The company says it is building a reliable, frictionless commerce ecosystem and is making targeted investments in internal and external capabilities to improve buyer and seller experience. To bolster its payments and consumer reach, Snapdeal acquired FreeCharge for a reported $450 million. Snapdeal is generally seen as second to Flipkart with Amazon close behind, and it has been mentioned among firms tipped to pursue an IPO. Financially, Snapdeal has raised roughly $1.8 billion to date and recently secured a $200 million investment led by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan; no valuation was attached to the new raise. Six months earlier it received $500 million from Alibaba, SoftBank and Foxconn. Snapdeal operates a large Indian e-commerce marketplace competing with Flipkart and Amazon India. The company holds roughly a 32% share of India’s $6.3 billion e-commerce market (Flipkart 44%, Amazon India 15%, per Morgan Stanley figures reported). Snapdeal has expanded via acquisitions such as FreeCharge, which its CEO says makes its revenue position "neck and neck" with Flipkart. The company is investing heavily in logistics and plans to spend $150 million to $200 million expanding its delivery operations over the next year. Snapdeal faces a fierce, costly battle for market leadership and has attracted major strategic investors as part of that effort. Snapdeal operates a third-party retail marketplace in India, aggregating small businesses and enabling them to sell nationally via its platform. The company reports about 50,000 sellers and 25 million registered users, with annual gross merchandise value above $2 billion and GMV growth of over 600% in the prior 12 months. Mobile has become dominant for the business, rising from 5% to roughly 65% of sales in about 15 months. Snapdeal has built physical seller centers (about 40) to help retailers list and consign inventory, and roughly half of its sellers use a mobile app to manage stores. The company plans to hire 500 additional engineers and says any near-term acquisitions will focus on technology and expanding its payments platform. Management says it will remain focused on the Indian market and on operating as a marketplace rather than selling its own inventory. Snapdeal operates a B2C marketplace with a zero-inventory model, hosting roughly 4 million products and serving about 20 million registered users. The company positions itself as a platform for 50,000+ small businesses and brands in India and reached over $1 billion in sales after 2.5 years. Management is scaling headcount—the company has 1,300 employees and a remit to double that by year-end while adding some 250 engineers—and is recruiting engineering talent from the U.S. Snapdeal is expanding its product mix beyond physical goods, striking a deal with Tata Value Homes to sell about 1,000 properties across Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chennai. The company has raised significant capital this year (over $233 million prior to the new investment) to support growth and possible bolt-on acquisitions focused on technology.

Led · Series A · Sep 2012

Vyome’s lead candidate is VB 1953, a first-in-class topical bactericidal antibiotic being developed to treat antibiotic-resistant acne and reduce inflammation. The company planned to initiate a US phase 2b clinical trial of VB 1953 in Q1 2019 and is advancing the molecule through phase 2 studies for moderate to severe acne. Vyome also has a pipeline of preclinical new chemical entities based on its patented Dual Action Rational Therapeutics (DARTs) technology. The company has developed antifungal products from its Molecular Replacement Therapeutics (MRT™) platform and has out-licensed marketing rights for that platform to a large specialty pharmaceutical company. Vyome said the addressable US opportunity for antibiotic-resistant P. acnes could be roughly $2B. The company underwent a corporate restructuring to establish operations and headquarters in the United States. Vyome Biosciences is a clinical-stage specialty biopharmaceutical company based in New Delhi developing novel drugs for skin diseases caused by resistant microbes. Its lead program is VB 1953 for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant acne, which recently received FDA acceptance. The company also develops proprietary candidates targeting opportunistic pathogens and antifungal indications in dermatology. Vyome intends to use the Series C proceeds to advance the clinical development of VB 1953 while continuing work on other pipeline products. Leadership includes Co-Founder & CEO Venkateswarlu Nelabhotla (N. Venkat) and Co-Founder Dr. Shiladitya Sengupta. The company raised $14M in Series C financing to fund these clinical and development activities. Vyome Biosciences focuses on developing therapeutics for hard-to-treat and refractory dermatology diseases. It has completed clinical research on two products and has two lead compounds in preclinical stages of a USFDA program. The company is building a pipeline that includes molecules to kill dandruff-causing fungus and new antibiotics targeting resistant acne-causing bacteria, and it has developed a robust global patent portfolio. Vyome recently completed clinical studies on VB001 and VB2421 for mild to moderate dandruff. Management says the financing will fund USFDA filings and Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical research, plus further development and commercialization of its Rx and OTC pipeline. The company was founded in August 2010 and is based in Delhi. Vyome Biosciences develops dermatology and skin-care therapeutics, with lead programs targeting dandruff and acne. The company has filed multiple Indian and global patents on its platform technologies. Vyome plans to use the new funding to support clinical development of its lead anti-dandruff products and to accelerate pre-clinical development of its anti-acne candidates. Its founders include Rajesh Gokhale, Shiladitya Sengupta, and Rajeev Mantri, and the company was set up in August 2010. Vyome received seed funding from Navam Capital prior to this round. Leadership has expressed a vision to launch global products originating from India and to address the large global dermatology market. Vyome Biosciences is a new venture focused on dermatology and skin care. It will develop research-based pharmaceutical solutions for anti-fungal indications, chronic wound healing, and pigmentary disorders such as vitiligo. The company is targeting the global dermatology and wound care market, which the article estimates at over $15 billion. Vyome has received an early-stage investment of $1 million from Navam Capital. The description in the article emphasizes research-driven therapeutic development within dermatology rather than consumer skincare products.

Led · Series A · Aug 2012

Mettl is an online talent assessment platform launched in 2010 and based in India. Its core product enables employers to create customized, hands-on assessments—such as coding tests for developers—and uses algorithms to grade submissions in real time. The platform is used by a range of large companies and small startups for pre-hire screening and employee competency tracking and training. Mettl raised a $4 million Series A led by IndoUS and existing investors to accelerate product development. Vani Kola, managing director at IndoUS, will join Mettl’s board as part of the round. The company previously raised angel funding from Blume Ventures, Dr. Puranjaya Singh, Naveen Tewari of InMobi and others.

Led · Equity · Aug 2012

Urban Ladder operates an online furniture and home-decor portal under Urban Ladder Home Decor Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore-based, the company has raised close to $76 million to date, according to VCCEdge. In June it secured $3 million in venture debt from Trifecta Capital to meet working capital needs. The funding was recorded as a cash transaction and structured in lieu of a mix of non-convertible debentures and compulsorily convertible preference shares. The raise reflects a broader trend of startups turning to venture debt amid a slowdown in equity fundraising because it typically costs less and avoids founder dilution. Email queries to co-founders Rajiv Srivatsa and Ashish Goel did not elicit a response at the time of the report. Urban Ladder is an e-commerce store focused on furniture and home accessories and is described in the article as India’s largest online seller in that category. Founded in July 2012, the site lists about 4,000 products across more than 35 categories. The company said it will use the new capital to improve its technology, including better product images and easier mobile browsing and purchasing, according to co‑founder and COO Rajiv Srivatsa. Urban Ladder plans to expand into 30 cities by the end of the year and add new categories to its catalog. The company positions itself as highly design‑focused with a curated range to differentiate from other online furniture sellers. The article situates the raise amid renewed VC interest in furniture e‑commerce and expectations of a recovery in India’s housing market. Urban Ladder is an online furniture retailer that provides curated home solutions. Launched in July 2012 and co-founded by Ashish Goel (CEO) and Rajiv Srivatsa (COO), the company serves Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Pune. It offers close to 25 furniture categories and more than 500 products, including beds, sofas, dining tables and coffee tables. The company plans to expand product categories and reach additional Indian cities to establish itself as a leading destination for furniture shopping. Urban Ladder aims to be the largest furniture store, online or offline, in India within 18–20 months and intends to use funding to strengthen customer service and its technology platform. Financially, the company has raised a $5 million Series A and had previously raised $1 million from Kalaari Capital. UrbanLadder is an online furniture shop run by Bangalore-based Descasa Decor Online Pvt Ltd. The company sells furniture through its website UrbanLadder.com. It has raised $1 million in its first round of funding from IndoUS Venture Partners. The company said it will use the funds to strengthen the team, build customer service infrastructure and invest in technology. The article does not disclose revenue, user numbers, or other operating metrics.

Led · Series A · Jun 2012

Hushbabies.com, operated by Lapis Marketing Pvt Ltd, is an e-commerce platform dedicated to baby products and is complemented by babyBOX, an information site for expecting parents and parents of toddlers. The company has experienced rapid growth, expanding ten-fold in the past six months and currently handling about 1,000 transactions per day. Its competitive landscape includes players such as Firstcry.com, Babyoye.com, and broader horizontal e-commerce sites like Fashionandyou, Indiaplaza and 99labels. With fresh capital in hand, management plans to bolster three key areas: customer support, logistics, and the underlying technology for both Hushbabies and babyBOX. CEO Sridhar Seshadri, who joined earlier this year, is steering these initiatives. Prior funding included a seed round backed by IndoUS Venture Partners (IUVP) and Nexus Venture Partners, though Nexus has since exited its stake. The business aims to use the new investment to solidify operations and sustain its aggressive growth trajectory.