Private equity firm General Atlantic (GA) has been reported to be in talks to invest Rs 550 crore in ecommerce firm Snapdeal, according to The Economic Times. Snapdeal's existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Nexus Venture Partners and IndoUS Venture Partners will also participate in this round of investment.
Last week, Snapdeal said that it expects to garner revenues of about Rs 600 crore in the current fiscal and is also scouting for more acquisitions which would help it strengthen its offerings. Earlier this year, Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd that runs Snapdeal.com had said it has earmarked USD 20 million (around Rs 100 crore) to make up to four acquisitions in 2012.
This will be General Atlantic's first investment in an Indian ecommerce firm. Last year, General Atlantic Partners was once believed to be in funding negotiations with Flipkart, but the deal was not finalised. Snapdeal, founded in 2010 by Kunal Bahl and was initially modeled like Groupon in the US. In July 2011, Snapdeal raised $40 million from Bessemer, along with existing investors Nexus and IndoUS, at a valuation of around $180 million. This followed an investment of $12 million by Nexus and IndoUS in January the same year.
