LatestOne.com's parent firm Palred Technologies raises Rs 22 crore from Florintree, others

Highlights:

1. The board of the company approved an allotment of Rs 22 crore by way of preferential allotment at a price of Rs 145 per share 

2. The funding will be used for accelerating our growth through investments in additional fulfillment centers, brand building, inventory, building B2B channels and developing the managed market place further, cited Palred Technologies chairman Palem Srikanth Reddy, in a statement

3. The investors like Mathew Cyriac (former Co-Head of Blackstone India Private Equity Business), Chidambaram Palaniappan (founder of Florintree), K Madhavan (Joint Managing Director of Star TV India) and Bharat Sheth (Managing Director of Great Eastern Shipping) were included in Palred Technologies' latest round of funding 

Homegrown mobile accessories e-commerce firm LatestOne.com's parent company Palred Technologies has raised Rs 22 crore through a preferential allotment in its latest round of funding.

“The board of the company approved an allotment of Rs 22 crore by way of preferential allotment at a price of Rs 145 per share. Florintree led and advised investors are the lead participants in this round of preferential allotment,” Palred Technologies said in a press release on Tuesday.

The investors like Mathew Cyriac (former Co-Head of Blackstone India Private Equity Business), Chidambaram Palaniappan (founder of Florintree), K Madhavan (Joint Managing Director of Star TV India) and Bharat Sheth (Managing Director of Great Eastern Shipping) were participated in Palred Technologies' latest round of funding. 

The public listed company Palred Technologies will use the proceeds to meet growth capital requirements of LatestOne.com.

“We are excited about the participation of Florintree in this financing round and their decision to join our board. We believe that the support of institutional investors and the right investor mix is critical to the long-term success of the company. The funding will be used for accelerating our growth through investments in additional fulfillment centers, brand building, inventory, building b2b channels and developing the managed market place further,” Palred Technologies chairman Palem Srikanth Reddy, said in a statement. 

Palred is promoted by Palem Srikanth Reddy, an MS from Stanford University, USA and with over 25 years of experience with global technology and logistics companies including Hewlett Packard and UPS. 

LatestOne.com is domestic e-tailer which is specialised in tech and mobile accessories such as Bluetooth devices, mobile covers, tablet accessories, cables, power banks, Android TVs, among others and is owned by Palred Online Technologies, which is subsidiary of Palred Technologies and is listed on BSE and NSE since 2004. 

According to the release, LatestOne.com is on track to become one of the few Indian e-tailers to declare a gross profit on a full year basis in the current fiscal year 2016-17 (FY17).

LatestOne.com has substantially reduced its burn rate over the last couple of years (expected to be Rs 7.5 crore during FY17, mainly related to indirect costs). 

"For the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY17, the gross margin contribution is expected to be 15% and the overall burn rate is set to go below 10% of net revenue," cited the company.