Indian e-commerce site LetsBuy.com raises $6M

The company gets funding from Helion, Accel, and Tiger Global

Letsbuy.com, a site that could be accurately described as the Best Buy of India, announced Tuesday morning that it has raised $6 million in a fundraising round led by Helion Venture Partners, with participation from Accel Partners and Tiger Global.

The company, which was founded in July 2009, specializes in electronics, which have become one of the fastest growing e-commerce items in India.  The site was launched in September 2009 and some seven months later it had already acquired more than 10,000 customers and was seeing 3,000 transactions per month.  CEO and co-founder Hitesh Dhingra stated back in April that the company plans to boost 2011 growth by 300%.

“Letsbuy.com is direct to customers’ portal,” said Dhingra in an interview with YourStory.in.  “Unlike other ecommerce websites in the country, we don’t work with multiple intermediaries. We buy the product directly from brand or their tier one distributors and ship it to end customers. This helps us in offering better price and faster deliveries to our customers.”

Indeed, the company’s direct connection to suppliers like HP, Microsoft, Samsung, MapmyIndia, WD, Imation, HTC, and Canon, and its complete control over logistics and delivery, means that it is able to offer steep discounts on items (like a Samsung Galaxy Tab for Rs. 29,499, a savings of Rs. 8,501 over the retail price of Rs. 38,000) and ensure rapid delivery.

The company could not be reached for comment, but Dhingra told YourStory.in that the company was profitable after only six months.

Dhingra’s previous experience in online advertising (he co-founded India’s first contextual online advertising network) may have helped the company’s growth and revenue generation. 

“The LetsBuy.com team has the vision and the business acumen to identify opportunities and make them stepping stones towards growth. In the process they present the best offerings to their customers and meet the goals chalked out by the partner investors. The strategy and plans match those valued by the Accel Partners team. We are confident this relationship will be beneficial for all,” said Prashanth Prakash of Accel Partners in a prepared statement.

The company will be adding product reviews and price comparisons to the site in the near future.

Image source: letsbuy.com