Exclusive: E-commerce enabler Blubox in talks with IAN, others for bridge round

Blubox, a Mumbai-based e-tailing platform for small and medium enterprises (SME), is in bridge financing talks with Indian Angel Network (IAN) and LetsVenture, sources said.

Reit India Consultants Pvt Ltd, the company behind Blubox, is looking to raise Rs 3.5 crore ($526,000), the sources, who did not wish to be identified, added.

The company will primarily use the money to develop technology infrastructure and make senior hires. A part of the proceeds will be deployed for marketing and acquiring new customers.

Harish Singla, Blubox CEO, did not comment on the development. Separate mails sent to spokespersons of IAN and LetsVenture did not elicit any response till the time of filing this report.

Last week, Techcircle.in had reported that Blubox raised Rs 66 lakh ($100,000) in angel funding led by Ashish Jhalani, promoter of Etailingindia.com and founder of Indian School of eBusiness. MySolitaire.com CEO Amit Jhalani and Altor.co.in CEO Supreet Singh had also participated in that round.

The firm connects brands/labels and e-commerce marketplaces through services such as model photo-shoot and catalogue, order management to payment reconciliation and product selection advisory.

An alumnus of Indian School of Business (Hyderabad), Singla has over 15 years' experience in retail and channel sales. Before launching Blubox in 2012 with his wife Dipti, Singla worked with ICICI bank, HDFC Bank and CEAT Financial Services.

Dipti, has seven year experience with leading e-commerce portals such as eBay, Flipkart, Jabong, Myntra and HomeShop18.

The company claims to have partnered with 15 e-shopping portals, including five leading online marketplaces, since launch.

Several tech players that facilitate e-commerce transactions for sellers have raised funds in the recent past. In April, Goa-based Browntape, which helps online merchants manage orders and inventory for e-commerce marketplaces, raised around $1 million from Seedfund and serial entrepreneur K Ganesh.

In January, Sellerworx, which helps small businesses sell on online marketplaces, received funding of around $1 million from Axilor Ventures, a seed incubator set up by Infosys co-founders SD Shibulal and Kris Gopalakrishnan.