Gadgetwood eServices Pvt. Ltd, which operates smartphone refurbishing and resale platform Yaantra, has raised $3.1 million (about Rs 20 crore) in its fourth round of funding from existing investors Carpediem Capital Partners and Duane Park, a press statement said.
Jayant Jha, co-founder and CEO of Yaantra, said the company will use the funds to strengthen its relationship with network partners and boost its customer offerings during the festive sale season.
“We want to provide our customers comprehensive solutions around smartphones and similar gadgets. These include refurbished devices, warranties, quality repair services, easy financing options, and reliable accessories,†he added.
This funding round takes the total amount raised by the company to $10 million. Yaantra had last raised $6 million from the same set of investors in September 2016. In April 2015, it had raised an undisclosed amount from a bunch of individual investors through Indian Angel Network.
Delhi-based Yaantra, which was launched in 2013 by Jha, Anmol Gupta and Ankit Saraf, sells refurbished smartphones with warranty and provides on-demand repair services. It currently has operations in New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad. The company, which employs over 700 people, claims to have a capacity to repair and refurbish over a lakh smartphones a month.
“The company has also built... proprietary sales channels like its e-commerce portal Yaantra.com and pan-India retailer network with over 15,000 retailers onboard. Equity infusion at this juncture will help Yaantra explore other key financing and strategic relationships,†said Anurag Bhargava, founder of Duane Park.
Jha holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from University of Delhi, Saraf is an MBA from Bundelkhand University, and Gupta has a degree in computer science from IPS Academy.
"We have been growing profitably, and at over 25% month-on-month in sales... and targeting presence in 25 cities by 2018,†Jha said.
A few players in the smartphone repair and refurbishment space raised funding last year.
In September 2016, media reports said that Hyderabad-based JustlikeNew, an online after-sales booking service for smartphones and tablets, raised $389,000 from KrishnaKumar Natarajan, executive chairman of MindTree; Sandeep Mathur, managing director of Oracle India; Vikas Tandon, managing director at Indigo Consulting; and Aneesh Reddy, co-founder and CEO of Capillary Technologies.
In August last year, mobile phone repair platform Repaireasy raised a pre-Series A round from a consortium of international and domestic investors.
In April 2016, Servify, which offers brand-authorised after-sales support services for electronic gadgets, raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A funding from Blume Ventures and two German firms.