Dolma Impact Fund contributes $1 million dollor on Sastodeal.com

Kathmandu: Dolma Impact Fund has made additional investment of one million dollar in Sastodeal.com as Nepal’s ecommerce market is booming. 

Sastodeal.com, a leading local e-commerce company in Nepal has raised $1 million from Dolma Impact Fund alongside other existing shareholders as part of an ongoing fundraising round. 

The growth investment will be used towards reaching Sastodeal’s milestone target of achieving Rs one Billion in annual revenues within next 18 months. 

Founded in 2011, Sastodeal.com is one of Nepal’s biggest and most popular online shopping platforms. 

The company was growing at near-about 300 percent before COVID-19 hit Nepal. During the lockdown, Sastodeal saw new customer numbers spike. 

“We worked as part of a government taskforce, along with other e-commerce providers, to deliver essentials during lockdown,” said CEO Mr. Amun Thapa. “Now that the lockdown is easing gradually, we can see there is more demand than ever as new customers are now familiar with online shopping.”

Dolma Impact Fund, the first international private equity fund investing in Nepal, is already a shareholder in Sastodeal. They have now approved a significant fresh investment, alongside some existing local shareholders, to fund the next stage of growth.

This will include an expansion of product categories, talent acquisition, core operations, vendor empowerment, and an expansion to other regions in Nepal. “One thing that was obvious during lockdown was the limitation of catering to customers outside the Kathmandu Valley. This investment will enable us bring the benefits of e-commerce to both consumers and businesses to a much wider audience,” added Thapa.

Mr. Tim Gocher, CEO of Dolma Impact Fund, added, “This is a high growth industry which performed a vital task during lockdown. This new investment reflects our belief in the Sastodeal team and our continued investment in Nepal’s technology sector, alongside our healthcare and renewable energy investments. We are delighted to lead this round of financing alongside local partners.”

Compared to the retail industry, e-commerce is still a minority though. But with how the industry is shaping up in India and rest of the world, the trend is same for Nepal. Walmart, the world’s largest retailer made $16 billion investments in Flipkart; India’s leading local ecommerce company. Recently, Ambani’s Jio Reliance ventured into the ecommerce space and is on a fund-raising spree. 

“Ecommerce is surely an attractive space for investments in India and around the globe and we are also witnessing similar trends in Nepal”, says Mr. Thapa. 

Sastodeal also has plans to reveal a big partnership with an outside firm in the upcoming days. Mr. Amitesh Roy, company CCO said “The partnership will be a game-changer for Nepal and we hope the announcement will get the entire nation excited.”   

Meanwhile, the company has also stated that Sastodeal is in talks with various local and international investors to close this fundraising round in a few months.

 

Leave Comment