Big Shoe Bazaar raises Rs 1 bn funding

Big Shoe Bazaar raises Rs 1 bn funding

MUMBAI: Big Shoe Bazaar India, the brand owner of e-commerce portal Yebhi.com, has raised Rs 1 billion in Series C round of funding led by Fidelity Growth Partners India and Qualcomm Incorporated through its venture capital investment arm, Qualcomm Ventures. Existing investors, Nexus Venture Partners and Catamaran also participated.

The wholesale cash and carry venture supplies shoes, apparels, lifestyle accessories, jewellery, mobiles, electronics, kitchenware and homeware across a variety of brands from wholesalers to smaller retailers through an online catalogue.

Fidelity Growth Partners India MD Raul Rai said, "Big Shoe Bazaar is best positioned and equipped to support the needs of mass market ecommerce sites like Yebhi.com. Global leaders in the mass market segment were able to take up value-based positions based on very strong back end capabilities. We believe Big Shoe Bazaar‘s strengths are unparalleled in the backend."

Qualcomm Ventures senior director- India and Israel Karthee Madasamy added, "The number of internet users via mobile has already surpassed Internet users via PC, creating a growing opportunity to reach mobile connected consumers with unique shopping experiences. Our investment in Big Shoe Bazaar has come at a time when the rapid rise of smartphones, tablets and social media networks stands to greatly influence the way people engage in online shopping. We are delighted to co-lead this financing round."

"Yebhi.com has pioneered mass market ecommerce in India and has taken significant first mover advantage in this large segment. Big Shoe Bazaar‘s state of the art fulfillment centre, efficiencies in our supply chain and our logistics network are key to supporting Yebhi.com‘s customer connect. Our Series C round of investments will further strengthen these core initiatives," Big Shoe Bazaar India CEO Manmohan Agarwal said.