15 top-funded ecommerce startups in India this year – with a few surprises (INFOGRAPHIC)

Ecommerce accounted for nearly half of the US$6.4 billion of funding in Indian startups in the first three quarters of 2015. It continues last year’s trend when India had its first billion dollar funding round in Flipkart, followed by nearly two-thirds of a billion dollars invested in Snapdeal.

After Japan’s SoftBank came in with bagfuls of cash for Snapdeal last year, it was Alibaba’s turn to make its move in early 2015, and what a surprise it was. The horse it backed in India’s ecommerce race is none other than the nimble Paytm. Later in the year, it also betted on Snapdeal for a two-pronged proxy war against its global rival Amazon on Indian turf.

Now let’s take a closer look at the 15 top ecommerce players in India, ranked by the funding they received this year, according to data from venture capital analytics firm Tracxn.

Infographic by Tech in Asia’s Andre Gunawan

1. Paytm – US$890 million

With US$890 million of funding under its belt, the Alibaba-backed Paytm expanded its horizons from a digital payments company to a nimble mobile commerce player pitted against the giants Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal. Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma is now figuring out the best way to split the Paytm app into two – one for commerce and another for payments.

2. Flipkart – US$750 million

Indian ecommerce leader Flipkart continues to guzzle funding in the fight for marketshare with local rival Snapdeal, global rival Amazon, and new contestant Paytm. Discounts to hook users and investments into warehouses and logistics to streamline delivery are expensive propositions. But the Indian ecommerce market is a huge prize up for grabs. Co-founder Sachin Bansal is currently testing the waters to see if going app-only will be a killer move.

3. Snapdeal – US$500 million

Flipkart’s main rival Snapdeal went on an acquisition spree after its US$627 million funding by SoftBank last October. The crowning jewel in this string-of-pearls strategy was the acquisition of mobile top-up site FreeCharge in India’s biggest ever M&A deal. Now, Snapdeal and FreeCharge have launched a wallet rivalling that of Paytm to crack the digital payments issues in India.

4. Pepperfry – US$100 million

Fourth on the list is furniture marketplace Pepperfry, proving that niche players too are in the ecommerce game big-time. Items like furniture have specialized sourcing and delivery requirements which a vertical player may serve better. Goldman Sachs made its first bet on Indian ecommerce by leading the US$100 million investment in Pepperfry.

5. Shopclues – US$100 million

The last of the horizontal players in this list, ShopClues provides a counterpoint to the biggies of Indian ecommerce. Much like how a flea market competes with the malls, ShopClues offers lower price points by sourcing products from the unorganized sector, which is massive in India. The bargains are better but the risks are greater. Caveat Emptor.

6. Yepme – US$87 million

After home products marketplaces, fashion is the other big niche in ecommerce. Yepme is one of the leaders in this space, competing with the likes of Flipkart’s Myntra. Interestingly, Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional, the investment fund of the Government of Malaysia, led its latest US$75 million funding round.

7. Homelane – US$54.5 million

One-year-old interior design marketplace HomeLane is among others in this space scaling up rapidly. The furniture and home decor markets are among the most disorganized in India, which gives ample play for tech startups. The rising incomes in urban Indian households contribute to the growing demand for such services.

8. Urban Ladder – US$50 million

Furniture marketplace Pepperfry’s main rival Urban Ladder is also scaling up rapidly. Interestingly, both of them source a lot of their products from the desert state of Rajasthan in north-west India, which is known for its craftsmanship. Apart from the dollars, Urban Ladder has attracted iconic investors like Silicon Valley veterans Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan] who pioneered Junglee Corp before its acquisition by Amazon. Indian tycoon Ratan Tata is also on board.

9. Zivame – US$40 million

Bangalore-based Zivame, founded by BITS Pilani grad Richa Kar in 2011, led the online lingerie movement in India. From everyday underwear to sexy lingerie, as well as maternity, plus-size, and bridal lingerie, Zivame brought an array of intimate wear for women online. In September, it announced a series C round of funding of US$40 million from Zodius Technology Fund and Khazanah Nasional which has also backed fashion etailer Yepme in India.

10. Firstcry – US$36 million

Indian kids e-store Firstcry nabbed US$36 million in a funding round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Valiant Capital in April. Firstcry’s existing investors IDG Ventures India, Temasek’s subsidiary Vertex Venture Holding, and SAIF Partners also participated in the round. This capital came just a few months after it raised US$26 million. Founded in 2010, the company competes in the Indian online baby care market, which is expected to reach US$500 million by 2017.

11. Caratlane – US$31 million

Chennai-based Caratlane raised its series D funding round of US$31 million from Tiger Global. It was founded by Srinivasa Gopalan and Mithun Sacheti, scion of jewelry chain Jaipur Gems in 2008. The portal deals in gold, silver, and diamond jewelry. In 2011, Caratlane raised US$6 million from Tiger Global, which was followed by another US$6 million from the same investor in 2012.

12. Limeroad – US$30 million

LimeRoad, founded by Suchi Mukherjee, Prashant Malik, and Ankush Mehra, combines fashion ecommerce with social discovery. The fashion portal features user-generated “looks,” which mix and match interesting combinations of apparel and accessories. In March this year, it raised US$30 million from Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners in series C funding. The same investors had pumped US$15 million into Limeroad less than a year ago. Earlier, at inception, Matrix and Lightspeed had invested US$5 million into it.

13. Lenskart – US$22 million

Indian etailer of prescription eyeglasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses Lenskart was founded in 2010 by former Microsoft product manager Peyush Bansal along with friends Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi. Its series C round of US$22 million was led by private equity firm TPG Growth. Hong Kong based TR Capital and IDG Ventures participated in the round. Lenskart has “no middleman involved – which means the company can pass on the benefit of reduced costs to customers in the form of almost 70 percent lower prices,” CEO Peyush told Tech in Asia in an earlier interview. It has an offline-online model and offers home eye-checkups for those who prefer to try and test spectacles before buying.

14. Naaptol – US$21.5 million

Social shopping portal Naaptol raised a series C funding round of US$21.5 million in April. The round was led by Tokyo-based Mitsui and Co. Naaptol’s earlier investors, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Canaan Partners, and Saama Capital participated. What set Naaptol apart from the others on this list is that the biggest chunk of its revenue come via the television medium. It runs TV ads and also has a dedicated 24 hours channel to showcase its products. Customers dial call centers to place an order.

15. Roposo – US$20 million

Instead of competing with the bigger ecommerce companies like Flipkart, Amazon, and Snapdeal, Roposo works on a complementary track. This Gurgaon-based fashion discovery platform lets users save items from different ecommerce sites. It had two funding rounds this year: US$5 million landed in March from Tiger Global and a few returning investors, including Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal. The rest of the US$20 million came from Tiger Global in August.

What do you make of the fund flows into Indian ecommerce? Will the niche players succeed or will they be snuffed out by the biggies? Drop your comments below.

See: Here are the 7 most active investors in India this year