TV shopping & e-commerce firm Naaptol raises $21.4M from Mitsui, existing investors

Naaptol Online Shopping Pvt Ltd, which runs a tele-shopping and e-commerce platform Naaptol.com, has raised an undisclosed amount in Series C round of funding led by Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co, it said on Tuesday.

The round also saw the participation of its existing investors New Enterprise Associates, Canaan Partners and Saama Capital.

Although the amount is not disclosed, a report  by The Economic Times pegged it at Rs 136 crore ($21.4 million).

The company was earlier in the talks to raise $50 million in its third round.

The funds will be used to upgrade its studio capabilities, expand supply chain and invest in technology.

"Naaptol is at an important juncture in its evolution with a strong presence on television through advertisements on

third-party channels as well as on 24-hour television shopping channels," said Manu Agarwal, founder and CEO, Naaptol.

Launched in January 2008, Naaptol is a comparison-based social shopping portal. A major portion of its revenue comes from television platform and much of its customers are in states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Its main competitors in the television shopping business include HomeShop18 and StarCJ, both of which run independent channels. Naaptol was also looking to float its own TV channel.

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.

Mitsui has also invested in Japanese TV shopping retailer QVC besides a similar venture in China. In India, it has also backed ventures like Sulekha and Suvidha Infoserve.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)