Groupon India is now 'nearbuy'

Sequoia India backs early leader in $50billion local commerce market

In its drive to consolidate its position as a leading local commerce player in the country, Groupon India has raised funding from Sequoia India. Rebranded as ‘nearbuy’ (www.nearbuy.com), the company will expand its reach to 35+ cities across 18+ categories and will now function as an independent entrepreneurial entity, while still continuing to have Groupon as a large shareholder.

Over the past three years, Groupon India has delivered on an aggressive growth strategy, scaling up presence across the country, growing the customer base and partnering with quality merchants. Since its initial days, the company has gone on to command over 50% market share in the Indian couponing industry. In 2014, the company sold over 7 million vouchers with a redemption rate of 97% amongst its customers. 100,000+ merchant locations were featured in the year, with a merchant retention rate of 70%+. Mobile has been a key driver accounting for over 40% of Groupon India’s business, up from less than 10% a year ago. 4 years of industry dominance, the continued leadership of Ankur Warikoo – now CEO & Founder of ‘nearbuy’, ongoing support from Groupon Inc. and its strategic partnership with Sequoia India sets up ‘nearbuy’ for success in a dynamic market such as India.

With the increasing penetration of mobiles and explosive growth in mobile internet usage, ‘nearbuy’ aims to lead the confluence of local commerce across existing segments such as F&B, Travel, Wellness as well as new local services such as home and auto services, online food ordering, movies and in-store shopping.

It is the only app in the country today that allows users to choose from a wide variety of services such as dining, spas, salons, wellness services, adventure activities, travel destinations, shopping and adds a unique discovery layer to existing offers that Groupon is known for.

“We’ve had the opportunity to service some of the biggest and most-loved brands across categories as Groupon - and now as ‘nearbuy’ we plan to expand that portfolio. The unique location based services will allow merchants to target consumers that are closer to their establishments and will offer unprecedented value to address critical business requirements. We are glad to have received the support of Sequoia India as a strategic partner, who are bringing on board the value, knowledge and expertise they possess, along with the resources required to make our vision a reality. The local commerce market in India is growing at a never-seen-before pace, and mobile penetration is facilitating that. Add to that Groupon’s Global support and we become a truly local player with global expertise and technology”, said Ankur Warikoo, CEO & Founder, nearbuy.

“Under the continued leadership of Ankur Warikoo, ‘nearbuy’ is well positioned to lead the dynamic Indian local commerce market,” said Eric Lefkofsky, CEO and Co-founder of Groupon. “As a continued shareholder in the business, Groupon looks forward to seeing ‘nearbuy’ achieve its vision to become the leading local commerce company in India."

Commenting on the announcement, Mohit Bhatnagar, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors said, “Tens of thousands of service and retail establishments across India have a new friend in ‘nearbuy’.  This mobile first platform will cause more consumers to walk into their stores, spas, hotels, movie halls and help them sell more products and services. The unique ‘nearbuy’ platform is all about hyper local discovery, discounts and frictionless payments.

This we believe is an untapped billion dollar market opportunity. ‘nearbuy’ is best poised to exploit this opportunity, given the strong foundation Ankur and team have built with Groupon India,” he further added.

The ‘nearbuy’ leadership team will comprise six Co-Founders; Ankur Warikoo – CEO, Sumeet Kapur – CFO, Snehesh Mitra – CTO, Sachin Kapur – CMO, Ankur Sarawagi – CBO (Travel & Products) and Ravi Shankar – CBO (Local Commerce). They will take charge of delivering the ultimate ‘nearbuy’ experience to consumers, ensuring quality deals at the convenience of a click.