2014 was the year where billion dollar investments were announced in the e-commerce sector in India. In fact, between the three major players - Flipkart, Amazon India and Snapdeal, the sector saw an investment of around $4.8 billion this year. Flipkart raised a total $1.91 billion across three funding rounds in 2014, which was over 5 times the money it raised in 2013. Amazon stated plans of investing $2 billion in its Indian operations earlier this year while Snapdeal raised a total of $860.7 million across three rounds in 2014. Vertical e-commerce players like Jabong, Urban Ladder and Pepperfry also raised significant investment during the year. Jabong raised a 'multi-hundred million dollar' investment in February while Pepperfry raised $15 million in May and Urban Ladder raised $21 million in July. Online fashion store Koovs also raised £22 million through an IPO on London’s AIM exchange. These investments also led to massive advertising campaigns across various channels like print and television, especially during the festive season, impacting the business of several large & small offline retailers. Urban Ladder co-founder & COO Rajiv Srivatsa said that they were also able to attract talent from other industries and college campuses. This was a remarkable change from 2013, wherein companies struggled to raise money and several companies shut down due to lack of capital. https://twitter.com/Pankurocks/status/519123760612265984 E-commerce problems in 2014 However, things weren't all good in the sector during the year: HomeShop18 cancelled its IPO, around seven months after filing for an IPO and around five months after Reliance Industries acquired Network18. The company had also surprisingly…
