Mumbai-based Kribha Handicrafts Pvt Ltd, which runs e-commerce marketplace for ethnic products Craftsvilla, has acquired PlaceofOrigin, an online gourmet food marketplace. Post acquisition, PlaceOfOrigin founders Ashish Nichani and Sudarsan Metla joining the team of CraftsVilla.
Confirming the acquisition, Manoj Gupta, co-founder and CEO, Craftsvilla, said,
“We believe that ethnic foods is as big a category as ethnicwear. It is estimated to be a Rs 50,000-crore market but is highly unstructured currently. Also, the shelf life for these products is a unique challenge to online shopping. PlaceofOrigin has been working in this category for last two years and has been able to bring a lot of regional varieties online and address key logistics challenges. We look forward to utilizing their experience and our reach to make this a huge category for us.”
In November 2015, Craftsvilla had raised $34 million from existing investors Sequoia Capital India and Lightspeed Venture Partners in Series C funding. The online retailer recently said, it had earmarked nearly $10 million (about Rs 65 crore) to acquire companies in the data science and mobile technology spaces.
Founded in 2011 by Manoj Gupta and Monica Gupta, Mumbai-based Craftsvilla, has built the online ethnic marketplace with close to 3.5 million unique products from more than 25,000 artisans and designers across the country. Craftsvilla claims to reach more than a million customers everyday through its website and mobile app.
As per Nichani, the reason for the acquisition was a common vision shared by both companies. He further said that:
“We want to build India’s finest platform for speciality and ethnic foods and importantly, our internal focus on driving sustainable unit economics resonated with Manoj’s viewpoints on this count. We respect the way he and his team at Craftsvilla have built a profitable e-commerce company – a rarity in itself,”
The company is claiming to be currently clocking $120 million in gross merchandize value. In the coming year or so, the company is planning to go public. It is also looking to launch its own private label in order to get more margins.
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