Fashion e-tailer Myntra to integrate marketplace model with its site

Myntra, an online fashion retailer owned and operated by Bangalore-based Myntra Designs Pvt Ltd, is launching a marketplace model on its portal, according to a report by The Economic Times, citing its co-founder Ashutosh Lawania.

The marketplace model will be integrated with its existing portal Myntra.com, which will continue to sell premium and private label brands through its inventory model, while local and boutique brands will be sold through its marketplace. The firm expects to sign around 500 vendors within the first year of its operations, as per the report.

The new development comes after Myntra raised of $50 million in a fresh round of funding, led by Wipro chairman Azim Premji's investment firm Premji Invest.

Myntra is joining a slew of e-commerce players in India to add/launch a marketplace model to their platforms. India's largest consumer e-commerce player Flipkart had launched a marketplace in April last year which has been integrated with the existing website. A couple of months after this development, Amazon.com, world's largest e-commerce firm, announced the launch of Amazon's marketplace in India, Amazon.in. Rocket Internet-backed lifestyle e-tailer Jabong.com had also launched a managed market place last year.

Myntra is one of the heavily-funded e-commerce companies in India. After getting seed funding in 2007, it raised a little over $5 million in its Series A funding back in 2008 from NEA-IndoUS Ventures, IDG Ventures and Accel Partners. In 2011, it raised $14 million led by Tiger Global in which some of the other existing investors participated. This was followed by a $20 million in a Series C round led by Tiger Global besides $25 million by the same investors in 2012.

According to the firm, the portal currently receives over 50 million visits every month and showcases close to 50,000 products from over 600 brands.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)