Flipkart Group on Thursday said it had acquired electronics re-commerce company Yaantra for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition, said Flipkart, will augment its existing refurbishment business in the smartphone category.
“Through the acquisition of Yaantra, we are enhancing our capabilities in a domain that is critical for the growth of the digital economy in India, as well as developing a comprehensive service ecosystem to support its expansion,” said Ravi Iyer, Senior Vice President and Head, Corporate Development, Flipkart.
Founded in 2013 by Jayant Jha, Ankit Saraf, and Anmol Gupta, Yaantra repairs and sells refurbished consumer tech products such as smartphones and laptops.
The e-commerce market in India is growing at a rapid pace.
However, the Indian smartphone refurbishment market is largely unorganized and fragmented, which has posed trust and convenience issues for end consumers.
With the acquisition of Yaantra, Flipkart said it will enable greater access to affordable refurbished smartphones, offering value and convenience for the end consumers.
The Yaantra team will help Flipkart build capabilities in this domain and accelerate its e-commerce scale-up plans.
The business will report to Prakash Sikaria, Senior Vice President and Head of Flipkart’s Growth Charter.
“We believe this association will prove to be a game-changer in making the Indian refurbished market a success and creating an even better experience for our consumers,” – Jha, Co-Founder, and CEO, Yaantra.