Snapdeal snaps up $627 million investment from Japanese giant

A huge achievement for Snapdeal, India's four-year-old startup that allows third party retailers to sell goods online, comes in the form of a $627 million investment from SoftBank Internet and Media. The investment yesterday came at the same time that SoftBank confirmed a $210 million investment in another local startup Olacabs

Snapdeal snaps up $627 million investment from Japanese giant

The Japanese company's investment is Snapdeal's cue to continue expanding within the country, riding on what is likely the biggest cash dump by a single investor into an Indian startup. The latest cheque brings Snapdeal's fundraising this year upto a total of almost $1 billion, putting it into an easier spot to compete with rivals Amazon and Flipkart.

For SoftBank, the investment comes as part of what the company's chief executive, Masayoshi Son, says is a plan to invest $10 billion in India's e-commerce sector over the next 10 years. Meanwhile Kunal Bahl, cofounder of Snapdeal, says he hopes to take the company's future in the same direction as Alibaba, a China-based e-commerce giant in which SoftBank owns a third of the shares.