Sulekha, the online classified portal for local services has raised $28 million in Series C round of funding led by Sovereign Wealth Fund GIC with participation of existing investor Norwest Venture Partner.
The company will use the freshly raised funds for the expansion of its platform and will also invest money for technology enhancement and brand building. It also has plans for the expansion in tier I and tier II cities.
Satya Prabhakar, founder and CEO of Sulekha.com, said,
This investment by GIC and Norwest is a powerful endorsement of the vast potential of the local services opportunity in India and Sulekha’s ability to prosecute it successfully. Sulekha has cultivated deep expertise and built a sophisticated platform in 800+ local service categories including home/office services, coaching/training, health/lifestyle and property/rentals.
Sulekha.com was founded in 2000 by Satya Prabhakar. Earlier, the company raised $6.5 million in Series B round and $10 million in Series A round of funding in 2006. The biggest competitor of Sulekha.com is Justdial, a public listed local service classified company, which has been gaining sizeable foothold within the country.
Promod Haque, senior managing partner of Norwest Venture Partner, said,
Less than 10 per cent of local businesses in India have ever advertised, according to recent estimates. Sulekha is seizing an enormous opportunity in transforming how businesses find local customers and grow and we look forward to significant scale ahead.
