Indian startup Shopclues bags $1 bn valuation

NEW DELHI — Indian e-commerce company Shopclues.com said on Tuesday that it has become the latest startup to receive a billion-dollar valuation from investors, as the company gears up to go public next year.

The company raised close to $150 million from Singaporean sovereign-wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd. and existing investors Tiger Global Management Corp. and Nexus Venture Partners.

The funds will be spent on advertising and improving technology as the company plans to reach profitability ahead of a planned initial public offering in 2017, Shopclues Chief Executive Sanjay Sethi said.

The latest round of funding more than doubles what Shopclues has received thus far, but is dwarfed by the billions of dollars raised by rivals Flipkart Internet Pvt. and Jasper Infotech’s Snapdeal. Flipkart has raised close to $3.5 billion and Snapdeal $1.5 billion.

Shopclues says its billion-dollar valuation is conservative for a technology startup given its current revenue of around $75 million, and is designed to facilitate a successful public offering.