ET BureauNEW DELHI: Ecommerce-enabling solutions provider KartRocket has named Ankit Sood as the chief financial advisor for its consumer-to-consumer marketplace for home entrepreneurs, Kraftly, the Delhi-based company announced on Thursday.
The announcement comes less than a month after KartRocket raised $6 million (about Rs 41 crore) in fresh funding, in a round led by Bertelsmann India Investments, the strategic investment arm of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann SE & Co.
The latest round also saw participation from KartRocket’s existing backers, a list that includes, Nirvana Digital India Fund, Nirvana Digital Investment Holding Co, Dave McClure-backed 500Startups and Singapore-based, Teruhide Sato-backed venture capital firm Beenext.
Prior to joining Kraftly, Sood was with Mumbai-headquartered investment bank, Avendus Capital, according to an official company statement. He has also had stints with Anand Rathi Advisors and Citi, the press release stated.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ankit to Kraftly. We are at the cusp of significant transformation, having witnessed tremendous growth in the past year on both, business and e-commerce industry. Ankit’s leadership, vast knowledge and experience was key in closing our latest round of funding. He would be instrumental in exploring profitable synergies with other players in the market,” said Saahil Goel, co-founder and chief executive of KartRocket.
Launched in 2015, Kraftly competes with Snapdeal-owned Shopo, which was also launched last year. Both entities target India’s micro and individual seller communities, a significant proportion of who still do not have an online presence, with the aim of bringing them onto a mobile marketplace.
Chinese ecommerce giant, The Alibaba Group and Ant Financial-backed Paytm, which has a huge focus on the offline-to-online space, has also launched its version of zero commission mobile marketplace for the country’s small merchants.
In India, O2O is a fast-growing business segment which combines the benefits of online retail with brick-and-mortar transactions.
“I consider this an opportunity to contribute to the growth and evolution of an O2O mobile marketplace developing a robust seller ecosystem aimed at disrupting the current e-commerce industry. I am very excited to be here and look forward to working with a team of young and talented professionals,” said Sood.
The Kraftly platform allows micro and small entrepreneurs, a signifiant number of whom operate out of their houses, to build branded digital shops that showcase their products, along with pricing, and which are marketed heavily through social media channels. The platform also manages the payment and logistics process for each seller on the platform.
The announcement comes less than a month after KartRocket raised $6 million (about Rs 41 crore) in fresh funding, in a round led by Bertelsmann India Investments, the strategic investment arm of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann SE & Co.
The latest round also saw participation from KartRocket’s existing backers, a list that includes, Nirvana Digital India Fund, Nirvana Digital Investment Holding Co, Dave McClure-backed 500Startups and Singapore-based, Teruhide Sato-backed venture capital firm Beenext.
Prior to joining Kraftly, Sood was with Mumbai-headquartered investment bank, Avendus Capital, according to an official company statement. He has also had stints with Anand Rathi Advisors and Citi, the press release stated.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ankit to Kraftly. We are at the cusp of significant transformation, having witnessed tremendous growth in the past year on both, business and e-commerce industry. Ankit’s leadership, vast knowledge and experience was key in closing our latest round of funding. He would be instrumental in exploring profitable synergies with other players in the market,” said Saahil Goel, co-founder and chief executive of KartRocket.
Launched in 2015, Kraftly competes with Snapdeal-owned Shopo, which was also launched last year. Both entities target India’s micro and individual seller communities, a significant proportion of who still do not have an online presence, with the aim of bringing them onto a mobile marketplace.
Chinese ecommerce giant, The Alibaba Group and Ant Financial-backed Paytm, which has a huge focus on the offline-to-online space, has also launched its version of zero commission mobile marketplace for the country’s small merchants.
In India, O2O is a fast-growing business segment which combines the benefits of online retail with brick-and-mortar transactions.
“I consider this an opportunity to contribute to the growth and evolution of an O2O mobile marketplace developing a robust seller ecosystem aimed at disrupting the current e-commerce industry. I am very excited to be here and look forward to working with a team of young and talented professionals,” said Sood.
The Kraftly platform allows micro and small entrepreneurs, a signifiant number of whom operate out of their houses, to build branded digital shops that showcase their products, along with pricing, and which are marketed heavily through social media channels. The platform also manages the payment and logistics process for each seller on the platform.
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