• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

Jaldi.com plans to raise Rs. 20 cr through funding

Vipin Kumar

NEW DELHI, June 15

JALDI.COM, a business-to-consumer (B2C) portal, is planning to mobilise Rs. 20 crores through venture capital funding to beef up its operations by enriching the site's content and expanding its reach, a top company official said.

``We are holding discussions with a few venture capitalists. We are in the advanced stages of finalising the funding,'' Mr. Sanjay Trehan, Vice-President (Content and Strategy), told Business Line.

This is the first round of funding that the portal is seeking since its launch in January this year. Mr. Trehan refused to disclose the quantum of equity the company would offload in favour of the investor.

Mr. Trehan said that the funds would be utilised primarily to strengthen logistics, perhaps the most important aspect for a B2C portal.

Jaldi.com has currently has a tie-up with Dart Mail to deliver the goods. More such alliances are in the pipeline. ``We currently take 4-6 days to deliver the stuff. Our endeavour is to reduce this period significantly.''

With a view to adding more flavour to the site, Jaldi.com will enter into strategic alliances with other dotcoms operating in the area of merchandising and content.

At least 4-5 such tie-ups are likely in the next few weeks, Mr. Trehan said, while ruling out any acquisitions in this regard. Besides, the company is also exploring the possibilities of joining hands with Internet service providers.

Set up by the city-based KLG Systel, a supply chain management software company, Jaldi.com has so far entailed an investment of Rs. 5 crores. In the first five months of the operation, the site generated a business of Rs. 2.5 crores, the official claimed .

In the next 12 months, the portal plans to launch its services in all the major metros in the country. Currently, it is operational only in Delhi and Mumbai.

``We are launching the site in Bangalore, Chennai and Calcutta in the next three months. Our next target is to reach out to smaller cities. In the next one year, we will be in 10 cities at least.''

Jaldi.com currently offers products from over a dozen categories. More alliances are being formed with manufactures and dealers in various categories.

``We will offer any brand of reckoning in consumer electronics,'' he said, adding that the company will look at a public issue 18 months down the line.