Takealot.com has raised $100 million from Tiger Global and from CEO Tim Reid in an expansion move in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
Launched in June 2011 after the acquisition of an existing ecommerce business called Take2 by the US based Hedge Fund, Tiger Global Management and Kim Reid in October 2010, takealot.com was build to be the largest, simplest, most customer centric online shopping destination in Africa.The firm sells DVD’s, Games, Music and Books to lifestyle categories like Home and Kitchen, Baby and Toddler, Health and Beauty and Sport and runs its own warehouses in Cape Town and Johannesburg plus has the advantage of running its own logistics with the purchase of a majoristy stake Mr. Delivery.
takealot.com is one of the fastest growing, most innovative ecommerce retailers on the African continent and this new raise will help it take on the increasing e-commerce players on the continent such as Naspers Kalahari, Simplicity Online among others. If the firm expands around Africa, it will take on Rocket Internet’s Jumia and Nasper’s backed Konga.com, both with expansion plans to several countries in Africa.
Tiger Global has a massive investment portfolio in internet businesses in the US, India and Africa such as iROKO Partners, BidorBuy, and India’s CommonFloor and FlipKart and hundreds others.