Craftsvilla acquires PlaceofOrigin

Sequoia backed Craftsvilla Handicrafts Pvt. Ltd had ventured into the food segment with the acquisition of Bengaluru based food startup PlaceofOrigin in an all-stock deal. PlaceofOrigin was founded by two former bankers in 2014. The company curates and takes to the market producers of ethnic Indian food items and local specialties across categories such as sweets, snacks, staples and health foods.

It currently claims to have vendors and customers across 20 states of India. The 15 member team of the company will be joining Craftsvilla after the acquisition. Craftsvilla vision is to build a one-stop destination for consumers looking for ethnic products. PlaceofOrigin has been working in this category for the last two years and has been able to bring a lot of regional varieties online and address key logistical challenges in this space.

Craftsvilla raised $34 Million in a funding round led by existing investors Sequoia and Lightspeed Venture Partners in November. Its previous funding was in January 2015 when it received $18 Million in an investment round led by sequoia. In December, it announced it had set aside $10 Million to acquire three to five companies across different sectors. This year, it acquired Mumbai based logistics startup Sendd.

CraftsVilla Acquires Sendd

CraftsVilla, an online marketplace for Indian products, has acquired the on-demand shipping service provider Sendd for $4.5 Million. Post-acquisition, Sendd will continue to operate independently and offer its services to other firms as well. CraftsVilla will use the acquisition to strengthen its logistics capabilities.

Founded in April last year, Sendd allows businesses to send parcels to 20,000 pin codes across India. It provides packaging, branding and insurance policies for parcels and provides an API for partner integration. The company also claims to provide reverse pickups and international shipments across all countries.

CraftsVilla was founded in 2011. It takes a 20% commission on the products sold; however, it is not clear if the company does this on per item or per order, which might include many items. The company claims to have 25,000 sellers on its platform, along with 3.5 Million sold products. In November last year, CraftsVilla raised Series C funding worth $33.3 Million after the company raised Series B funding worth $18 Million in April the same year.

Last year saw a consolidation in logistics services with various companies getting acquired or invested in by business customers or competitors. Flipkart acquired strategic minority stake in MapmyIndia to pad its supply chain and logistics operations. Grofers had acquired Townrush. Snapdeal invested in GoJavas.