Sendmebox.ru raises $300,000 to build cross-border marketplace
Apr 10, 2013
A group of e-commerce entrepreneurs from Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia has secured $300,000 in equity investment – including $200,000 from the Moscow Seed Fund and $100,000 from angel investor Andrei Golovin – to launch Sendmebox, a platform to help Russian online customers shopping on foreign sites.
A few months before site launch, the deal valued the company at $800,000 pre-money, co-founder and CEO Stanislav Meshcheryakov told East-West Digital News.
Illustrating the massive buy-abroad trend among Russian online shoppers – the value of such trade could exceed $2 billion this year, according to EWDN – Sendmebox claims it will display "100 million items from 50,000 foreign shops."
"We will start with US players, then progressively include European and Chinese online retailers," Meshcheryakov said.
Functioning as a marketplace, Sendmebox will display all these offers on one and the same Russian-language interface, with price comparison features, advanced search functions and "genuine user reviews," according to Meshcheryakov.
"Our site can be described as a kind of Yandex Market for international shopping," he added, referring to Russia’s leading online marketplace.
After choosing their product, customers will complete their purchase on the partnering foreign website.
Most existing cross-border operators, from BayRu to Ebaytoday to Shipito, partner with a more limited number of retailers – in particular, Amazon.com, eBay and Taobao.com and other leading sites – but provide their customers with a more integrated service offer, from adapted payment methods to parcel forwarding, delivery and insurance.
Meshcheryakov does not rule out deepening Sendmebox’s service offer in the future.
Meshcheryakov and his colleagues Andrey Kabakov and Anton Koshevoi are the powers behind Newmans.ru. Since its inception in 2009, this Rostov-based online retailer, which initially focused on computers and notebooks, has grown into a nationwide site with a diversified assortment of products. Last year the company generated several dozens of million dollars in revenues.
Although it is taking advantage of Newmans.ru’s experience, Sendmebox stands as an independent company.
A few months before site launch, the deal valued the company at $800,000 pre-money, co-founder and CEO Stanislav Meshcheryakov told East-West Digital News.
Illustrating the massive buy-abroad trend among Russian online shoppers – the value of such trade could exceed $2 billion this year, according to EWDN – Sendmebox claims it will display "100 million items from 50,000 foreign shops."
"We will start with US players, then progressively include European and Chinese online retailers," Meshcheryakov said.
Functioning as a marketplace, Sendmebox will display all these offers on one and the same Russian-language interface, with price comparison features, advanced search functions and "genuine user reviews," according to Meshcheryakov.
"Our site can be described as a kind of Yandex Market for international shopping," he added, referring to Russia’s leading online marketplace.
After choosing their product, customers will complete their purchase on the partnering foreign website.
Most existing cross-border operators, from BayRu to Ebaytoday to Shipito, partner with a more limited number of retailers – in particular, Amazon.com, eBay and Taobao.com and other leading sites – but provide their customers with a more integrated service offer, from adapted payment methods to parcel forwarding, delivery and insurance.
Meshcheryakov does not rule out deepening Sendmebox’s service offer in the future.
Meshcheryakov and his colleagues Andrey Kabakov and Anton Koshevoi are the powers behind Newmans.ru. Since its inception in 2009, this Rostov-based online retailer, which initially focused on computers and notebooks, has grown into a nationwide site with a diversified assortment of products. Last year the company generated several dozens of million dollars in revenues.
Although it is taking advantage of Newmans.ru’s experience, Sendmebox stands as an independent company.