Although you have probably never heard of it, Myntra is quietly capturing a huge segment of India’s $3.1 billion eCommerce market.¹ Myntra is, “India’s largest online shopping destination for fashion and lifestyle products, with the latest catalog of original branded products for men, women and kids.”² Although Myntra is not as large or successful as India’s largest eCommerce company, Flipkart – who raised the largest E Round of 2013 – it took a major step last week.

On Friday February 7, 2014, Myntra announced that it had secured a $50 million funding round.³ The investment came on the heels of a $250 million valuation of the Indian eCommerce company.⁴ Prior to the round, there was talk of a possible merger between Myntra and Flipkart. According to a TechCrunch report:

And, as that round closed [the current $50M round], it got approached by both Amazon and Flipkart (known informally as “the Amazon of India”), with Flipkart making an acquisition offer in the region of $200 million.⁵

So, for now at least, Myntra is holding out on any M&A talks. It is clearly in the best interest of the company. Myntra’s CEO, Mukesh Bansal, noted in the funding announcement, “We are confident of achieving $1 billion GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) by 2016 and will be by far the largest fashion destination in India.”⁶ To contrast that figure, Flipkart is projected at reaching the $1 billion GMV threshold by 2015.⁷

Bansal went on to describe what has made Myntra so successful, as well as what they intend to do with the funding:

The key to our success has been a robust business model and a customer centric approach that has resulted in Myntra.com emerging as the ultimate fashion destination for shoppers across India. We have been growing steadily, increasing our product offerings and attracting new users from different corners of the country. This round of funding will allow us to scale up, attract and retain superior talent, ramp up our technology infrastructure and strengthen the Myntra brand,⁸