India’s Homeshop18 Files For $75M Nasdaq IPO, Ahead Of Bigger E-Commerce Rivals

Homeshop18, an Indian TV shopping and online retail company owned by media conglomerate Network18 Media, has filed for $75 million IPO on Nasdaq, ahead of much-awaited listings of bigger e-commerce rivals in the country such as Flipkart and Snapdeal.

In October last year, Homeshop18 had raised $14 million in fresh round of funding from Korea’s GS Home Shopping among other investors. Before that, the company had raised around $26 million from SAIF Partners during 2008 and another $18.5 million in 2009 from GS Home Shopping.

As we have been writing, India’s e-commerce market is on fire, and is expected to grow sevenfold to $22 billion in the next five years, as Internet infrastructure improves further, making it easier for the country’s nearly 200 million online population to shop on-the-go.

So, it’s not surprising to see an Indian online retailer tapping overseas markets through a public offering. What is surprising though is that Homeshop18 has gone ahead of much bigger and faster growing domestic rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal in pursuing its IPO.

After Rediff, Sify and MakeMyTrip, Homeshop18 will become the fourth Indian Internet firm to list overseas.

Founded in 2006, Homeshop18 had revenues of $51 million during year ended September 2013.