Snapdeal to invest $20 million in gojavas

New Delhi: E-commerce major Snapdeal has invested USD 20 million (around Rs 130 crore) in logistics firm gojavas to help it expand operations in the country.

The funding is part of the online marketplace's plan of investing USD 200 million to strengthen delivery and logistics operations.

Snapdeal in March had announced that it will invest USD 150-200 million in the next one year on expanding its delivery operations as the competition in the booming Indian e-commerce market heats up.

In the same month, Snapdeal had picked up stake in gojavas. According to sources, the company had picked up stake in the company for about Rs 200 crore.

The USD 20 million funding will be used by gojavas to expand its footprint to include 100 more cities within the next 6-12 months, Snapdeal said in a statement today.

It has invested USD 100 million (approx Rs 650 crore) in the last six months to improve it delivery timelines by 70 per cent, the statement said.

The companies have been working together to build capacity and expand reach. Gojavas' reach expanded to include 150 more cities within 100 days of having entered into a partnership with Snapdeal.

Gojavas currently delivers to 350 cities up from 150 cities pre-partnership.

"gojavas is one of our best performing last mile logistics partners. The company?s average timeline for delivering Snapdeal orders has reduced by a full 24 hours in the last six months," Snapdeal co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Rohit Bansal said.

With freshly infused funds, the aim is to help gojavas become more successful and further expand their reach, he added.

"Our strategic partnership with Snapdeal has helped us become one the largest independent logistics players in the country with current revenue run rate of Rs 500 crore, while keeping our operations sustainable and efficient," gojavas Chief Operating Officer Vijay Ghadge said.