Info Edge tops up investment in ShoeKonnect, ups stake to nearly 30%

Info Edge (India) Ltd, the parent of job portal Naukri.com and real estate website 99acres.com, has invested an additional Rs 6 crore ($867,480) into its portfolio company ShoeKonnect.

The fresh investment raised Info Edge’s stake in the Agra-based online business-to-business footwear marketplace to 29.79% from 27.27%, the company disclosed in a stock-exchange filing.

In November last year, it invested Rs 3 crore ($422,000) more to increase its stake to 27.27% from 20%.

In April 2018, it acquired a 20% stake in ShoeKonnect for Rs 3 crore.

ShoeKonnect, run by Bizcrum Infotech Pvt. Ltd, was founded in 2014 by three economics graduates from Delhi University: Siddharth Vij, Chaitanya Rathi and Siddharth Rastogi. Rathi had earlier co-founded BeGhar.in, which is now defunct. Rastogi was a tax analyst at professional services firm PwC. Vij’s family runs footwear and apparel manufacturing businesses.

The startup raised an undisclosed amount from the Indian Angel Network in 2016. It posted revenue of Rs 37 lakh for the financial year ended March 2018.

ShoeKonnect brings manufacturers, retailers, component suppliers and buyers onto a single platform. It claims to facilitate the purchases of retailers from the manufacturer, reducing costs and avoiding logistical issues. It runs a leather products hub in Uttar Pradesh.

Info Edge

The Noida-headquartered firm runs multiple digital businesses, including matrimonial site Jeevansathi.com and education platform Shiksha.com. It caters to the Middle East market apart from 42 cities in India.

It is also an investor in several technology firms, including online restaurant discovery and food delivery platform Zomato. In February this year, it put in an additional Rs 2 crore ($280,000) in business-to-business sales catalogue app Wishbook, increasing its stake in the firm to 28.98%.

It also invested in enrolment management platform NoPaperForms and B2B e-commerce platform ShopKirana in December 2018.

Last month, it appointed Pawan Goyal, a former general manager at Adobe Systems, as the chief business officer at recruitment portal Naukri.com and Naukrigulf.com.