Women-focused reseller platform GlowRoad, run by Accelerator Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, has secured $10 million (Rs 69 crores at current exchange rates) in a Series B funding round led by Chinese alternative asset management firm CDH Investments, a media report stated.
Existing investor Accel India also participated in the round, a report in Chinese technology news publication 36kr said.
The company will use the money to build its supply chain and for business development, the report added.
In September 2017, GlowRoad had secured $2 million (Rs 12.8 crore) in Series A funding from Accel Partners.
The venture was earlier known as LocalQueen.com and rebranded as GlowRoad in June 2017 by Sonal Verma, a doctor by qualification. The company connects housewives, who want to start a reselling business at home, with suppliers.
GlowRoad competes with Meesho, Shop101 and Wooplr.
In November 2018, Meesho, an online marketplace for resellers, raised $50 million (Rs 365 crore) in a Series C round of funding from a number of investors including China's Shunwei Capital, Israeli-Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Partners and RPS Ventures, a fund set up by former SoftBank managing director Kabir Misra.
In December 2018, Mumbai-based Shop101, a mobile storefront and commerce platform for sellers, secured Rs 80 crore ($11.37 million then) in a Series B funding round led by venture capital firm Kalaari Capital and consumer goods giant Unilever’s investment arm Unilever Ventures.
The diversified alternative asset management platform was founded in 2002 by WU Shangzhi, JIAO Shuge and four other investment professionals and has about $20 billion in assets under management as of June 2018.
It covers private equity, real estate, venture and growth capital, mezzanine and credit, public equities and wealth management.
In June last year, VCCircle reported that the firm intended to set up a venture capital fund catering to India and Southeast Asia. In India, the investment firm is targeting companies in fast-moving consumer goods, retail and consumer internet sectors.
In March this year, CDH Investments along with venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners invested $3.2 million (nearly Rs 22 crore) in a seed funding round in lifestyle brand Mayfair.
In June 2018, it led a $12-million Series C round in Cashify, an online platform for selling used electronics.
Accel
The US-headquartered venture capital firm has been an early investor in India’s startup ecosystem and has backed firms like Flipkart and Freshworks.
In 2018, Accel was the second-most active VC firm in the country, after Sequoia Capital India.
Accel’s most recent deals include medical-technology startup SigTuple and field service management startup Zinier Inc.
