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Naaptol Online Shopping, which owns and runs TV shopping and ecommerce platform Naaptol.com, has raised about $51.7 Mn (INR 343 Cr.) in a new round of equity funding from existing investors including Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co., New Enterprise Associates, Canaan Partners and Silicon Valley Bank. Earlier in April this year, the company had raised about $20.5 Mn (INR 136 Cr.).
With this development, Mitsui & Co. has upped its stake in the company from 2% to 20%.
Naaptol will use the funds to expand its reach and to build an efficient supply chain. Besides, the company is also looking to upgrade its studio capabilities in order to get more content in multiple languages on daily basis as well as invest in its technology. “We are at an inflection point where transformational use of technology and expertise will define our future,” said Manu Agarwal, founder & CEO at Naaptol.
Currently, Naaptol reaches 160 Mn TV households in India and plays over 350 hours of commercials, every day in multiple languages. It facilitates sales of a gamut of products from a wide range of categories like electronics, apparel, jewellery, home decor and fashion & lifestyle.
Naaptol is the only independent multi-channel shopping company in India that has presence across leading channels of television, internet, print & mobile. Founded in 2008, Naaptol processes about 20,000 orders a day.
Mitsui & Co. has home shopping business in Japan, Taiwan and China.
Last year in December, the Maharashtra Government had frozen Naaptol’s bank accounts to recover value added tax (VAT) on the sale of third-party goods. According to Tax Department, Naaptol was fined INR 23 Cr.
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