Jabong eyes next funding round for rapid growth

As competition among fashion portals increase, most are looking at various initiatives to attract funding and establish presence. Fashion e-retailer Jabong, for instance is seeking a valuation of over 1 billion dollars (over Rs 6200 crores) as it looks to attract the next round of funding of around 150-200 million dollars (over Rs 940-1,250 crores). The company is also looking at being a part of Global Fashion Group (GFG), expected to go live early April.

Jabong, for GFG, will be merged with Dafiti of Latin America, Namshi of West Asia, Lamoda of Russia, and Zalora of Southeast Asia and Australia. GFG aims to be the biggest internet conglomerate outside the US and China like America’s Amazon and another giant Alibaba. The five portals together under GFG will have 4.6 million active customers and generate 463 million of gross merchandise volume annually. Kinnevik, Rocket Internet, and Access Industries together have a share of 56 percent in GFG.

While discount strategies and expansion of product basket helped the online fashion retailer Jabong increasd sales to Rs 541 crores in the nine months ended December 2014 against Rs 201 crores last year, according to a report by its Germany-based parent company Rocket Internet, Myntra, its counterpart, continues to outpace its growth.