Dharavi products find place on ShopClues platform

Online marketplace ShopClues.com has begun retailing products made by craftsmen and artisans living in Mumbai's Dharavi, one of the largest slums in the world. The company has partnered Dharavimarket.com, a startup that promotes products made by the slum-dwellers.

ShopClues recorded gross merchandise value (GMV) run-rate of 400 million dollars (around Rs 2,500 crores) last month and now the company plans to aggressively increase it in a year. The company had ended FY14 with GMV of Rs 350 crores and its actual net revenue was around Rs 30 crores with net loss of Rs 38 crores for the year ended March 31, 2014.

So far Nexus Venture Partners, Helion Ventures and Tiger Global have invested around 130 million dollars (over 800 crores). After raising 100 million dollars (over Rs 620 crores) in funding two months ago through a funding round led by Tiger Global, online marketplace ShopClues is now looking at expanding its operations by taking over smaller players in the payment solutions or advertising platform space.

The company also plans to increase the number of its fulfilment centres across the country to 20 from existing seven this year, while strengthening its infrastructure, technology expertise and adding 10 million merchants on the platform by 2018 from 125,000 merchants, listed on its website. The company will also initiate ways to increase awareness with television commercials and marketing.