O2O e-commerce platform Fynd has successfully raised undisclosed amount in the series C round led by the global search giant Google. The other investors that participated in this round are all Fynd’s existing investors, including Kae Capital, IIFL, Singularity Ventures, GrowX, Tracxn Labs, Venture Catalyst, Patni family office and Hong Kong based Axis Capital.
Fynd, which is based in Mumbai, said that most of the funds that was raised in this round will be primarily diverted for facilitating better interaction with our customers as well retailers. The startup is apparently having a good run as far as funding goes as last year it had secured significant amount of funding through multiple rounds.
While there are many fashion e-commerce stores in the market but Fynd’s differentiating factor is its unique O2O model, which stands for online-to-offline model. In this model, an e-tailer like Fynd sources most of the products from nearby outlets of their customers, which (among other benefits) helps the firm in processing quick shipment of their products.
Fynd came to being in 2013 after three aspiring entrepreneurs – Harsh Shah, Farooq Adam and Sreeraman MG – decided jump into e-commerce bandwagon. Since then the startup has gained respectable traction to catch the attention of some big investors. The company claims that more than 8,000 shopping outlets have been registered on its platform.
Meanwhile, through latest investment Google has once again re-affirmed its faith in the Indian startups. Investment in Fynd marks Google’s second direct investment in an Indian startup. In December 2017, the global search giant invested close to $12 Mn in Chat-based hyperlocal services app Dunzo. This was barely months after Google acqui-hired Bengaluru headquartered artificial intelligence firm Halli Labs.
Many experts claim that investment by big tech giants like Google is a welcome trend especially in the wake of on-going funding drought in the Indian startup ecosystem.
