Naaptol eyes $50M in third round of funding, plans independent TV shopping channel

Tele-shopping and e-commerce platform Naaptol.com, owned by Naaptol Online Shopping Private Limited, is mulling to garner $50 million in a third round of funding to support its expansion plans, according to a news report by the Mint citing the company's founder and CEO Manu Agarwal.

The company is engaged in discussions with some global private equity players and the deal is expected to be closed in three months, Agarwal said. Naaptol.com has appointed Jefferies as advisor for the fundraising.

The company is looking to launch a 24-hour television shopping channel and will also use the money to grow Naaptol's e-commerce business, expand its supply chain, and invest in technology.

The existing investors of the company include New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Canaan Partners. In 2011, Naaptol had mobilised $25 million in a second round of funding led by PE firm NEA and did a top-up round of $7 million in 2013 from existing investors.

Launched in January 2008, Naaptol is a comparison based social shopping portal. A major portion of its revenue comes from television platform (70 per cent) and customers in states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. At present, it advertises on 25 channels and in nearly 50 publications across nine different languages.

Its main competitors in the television shopping business include HomeShop18 and StarCJ, both of which run independent channels.

NW18 HSN Holdings Plc, the holding company for HomeShop18, is raising $75 million though a public listing on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)