Snapdeal All Set To Invest In Online Home-Services Startup Zimmber

Mumbai-based, on-demand home services startup, Zimmber, is speculated to raise funding from Snapdeal, reports ET. The deal which is estimated to be valued at about $7 Mn will see Snapdeal acquiring 10% stake in Zimmber.

Snapdeal’s spokesperson refused to comment on the development. However, Zimmber co-founder stated that it is just a speculation but the company is in process to close a deal soon.

Founded in 2014 by Anubhab Goel, Gaurav Shrivastava and Amit Kumar, Zimmber, is an online platform that provides on-demand home services to the users. It currently provides services in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi-NCR. Prior to this, in July 2015, Zimmber had raised $2 Mn (about INR 12.8 Cr) from IDG ventures, Omidyar Network, Sherpalo Ventures and TV Mohandas Pai.

The investment in Zimmber comes at a time when Snapdeal is planning to scale up it’s home services category in four cities – Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Pune. The current model has a handful of vendors list of services across carpentry, plumbing, pest control and installation services, and will hopefully expand after Zimmber’s inclusion.

This will be Snapdeal’s second investment in online service space. Prior to this, the company invested in Gurgaon-based hyperlocal grocery delivery services startup, PepperTap, which raised Series B funding round of $36 Mn led by Snapdeal in September 2015.

The on-demand services space is witnessing rapid growth since last year. Eyeing this space as a bigger opportunity, ecommerce players are entering the domain. Last year in December, Paytm acquired hyperlocal services marketplace Near.in. Whereas, Amazon invested about $22.5 Mn in Bangalore-based Housejoy. Operating in the same domain, UrbanClap raised $25 Mn in a Series B round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners and existing investors Accel Partners and SAIF Partners.