Bertelsmann Steps Up Activities in Indian E-Commerce Market
- Investment in leading e-commerce provider KartRocket
- Systematic business expansion in the growth region of India
The international media, services and education company Bertelsmann is expanding its activities in the growth region of India by investing in the e-commerce service provider KartRocket. The company assists Indian SMEs in selling their products online. KartRocket will now use the fresh capital to further open its range of services to private vendors – a potential market of around 50 million in India. In this connection, the Indian service provider recently launched a new digital marketplace for products sold by homepreneurs and small sellers (C2C) called “Kraftly.”
“The KartRocket team has the best expertise in the country in launching a micro-seller online sales platforms. The focus is always on how customers can use KartRocket solutions to independently build and operate their own platforms,” explains Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director of Bertelsmann India Investments. “By putting the power of e-commerce back in the hands of the small seller, Kraftly has the potential to create a new form of e-commerce in the Indian market. The recent growth in C2C commerce in countries such as China, Singapore, US and Japan is further validation of this business opportunity.”
KartRocket is the latest of several investments Bertelsmann has made in the Indian market. In 2015, the media group invested in the Pepperfry.com platform and the music streaming service Saavn. Other investments include the real-estate portal Indiaproperty.com, the university service provider iNurture as well as Authorgen Technologies and its online education platform Wiziq.com. Beyond this, parts of RTL Group, Penguin Random House, and Arvato are active in India.
About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the service providers Arvato and Be Printers, the music company BMG and the Bertelsmann Education Group. The company has more than 112,000 employees and generated revenues of €16.7 billion in financial year 2014. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes the creation of first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world.
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