NDTV Ethnic Retail, which operates the online fashion brand Indian Roots, is planning to raise $100 million (₹600 crore) in the next three months to acquire start-ups in categories such as jewellery, accessories and home furnishing. The move is aimed at transforming itself from a retailer of ethnic wear to a full-fledged fashion and lifestyle based e-tailer to take on bigger players like Myntra and Jabong.

Diversification “With a valuation of $85 million, today we are in a position to acquire start-ups in new categories to build speed and scale into our operations. Raising $100 million from overseas PE players in the next three months will help us diversify into new categories through acquisitions as we become a full fledged market place model for Indian fashion and take on players like Myntra in the $32-billion fashion category,” says Rahul Narvekar, Founder & CEO, NDTV Ethnic Retail.

With a top line of ₹61 crore, the 18-month-old company from the NDTV group has been spearheading the broadcasting major’s foray into e-commerce. The company had recently raised $5million from the KJS Group after starting with a seed capital of $3 million from Malaysia-based Astro and parent NDTV Convergence in 2013.

Expansion plans Indian Roots was created primarily to target Indians living in other countries with its ethnic range of products including products sourced from artisans. But now it is changing the product mix to include a wider range of fashion accessories to drive better margins. “We are dropping the ethnic tag from Indian Roots and becoming a pure Indian fashion led e-commerce site since gross margins are at 50 per cent in the fashion segment. Last year we had a turnover of ₹61 crore and want to take it up ten times to ₹600 crore this year,” says Narvekar, having founded the Fashion & You portal in the past.

The NDTV Group is betting big on e-commerce as a new business venture. The company informed the BSE about signing non-biding term sheets with certain potential investors for e-commerce ventures in the field of food, auto and gadgets.

Funding “We are now seeking cash funding from outside investors having incubated our digital business in areas like gadgets and food, to make it more transactional in nature, as we are serious about the e-commerce business,” said Vikram Chandra, CEO, NDTV Group.

In a separate filing with the stock exchanges, the company added that Genpact founder Pramod Bhasin will step down as an independent director and join one of the ventures. He will, however, continue to remain as non-executive Director of the company.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW