Mobile accessories e-tailer LatestOne.com raises Rs 22cr

Palred Technologies Limited, owner and operator of LatestOne.com, an e-tailer for mobile accessories has raised Rs 22 crore in the latest round led by Florintree Advisors, controlled by Mathew Cyriac, former co-head of Blackstone’s private equity business in India, and Chidambaram Palaniappan.

The investors include Mathew Cyriac (former Co-Head of Blackstone India Private Equity Business), Chidambaram Palaniappan (founder of Florintree), K. Madhavan (Joint Managing Director of Star TV India) and Bharat Sheth (Managing Director of Great Eastern Shipping).

Ashish Dhawan, founder of Chryscapital and an existing investor for over ten years in the Company is participating in this financing round apart from another existing investor, Passage to India Master Fund.

Srikanth Redd, Chairman, Palem said “The funding will be used for accelerating our growth through investments in additional fulfillment centers, brand building, inventory, building b2b channels and developing the managed market place further."

Initially known as Four Soft Limited, Palred sold its logistics software product business in 2014 to a portfolio company of Francisco Partners and distributed most of the proceeds to its shareholders for handsome returns. It retained a small portion of the proceeds to build LatestOne.com.

LatestOne.com has now achieved quarterly net revenue of Rs 12.5 crore with an investment of under Rs 30 crores. The e-tailer platform has substantially reduced its burn rate over the last couple of years. For Q4 FY2017, the gross margin contribution is expected to be 15 percent, and the overall burn rate is set to go below 10 percent of net revenue.