Snapdeal is shopping with a vengeance. And this time it’s mobile start-up Martmobi

It’s acquisition time for Indian ecommerce companies. More the ecommerce in India are gaining foothold, the key players in the sector are pulling up newbies under the fold. Snapdeal, which has acquired Mobi Kwik, an online payment platform recently has hit the headlines once more. This time, it’s Snapdeal’s parent company Jasper Infotech, which has acquired mobile commerce startup Martmobi, its 10th buyout, for an undisclosed sum.

As per a news report in The Economic Times, Hyderabad-based Martmobi's mobile-specific platform and solutions allow small and medium-sized businesses and brands to build mobile stores and apps that can connect with customers' existing back-end systems. The company, formed in 2008, also provides real-time analytics to improve conversions and user engagement.

"They've done a great job in solving merchant problems when it comes to mobile internet. We have already done a lot of work in that area, and we expect this acquisition to take us to the next level," Rohit Bansal, co-founder and chief operating officer of Snapdeal told the ET.

Snapdeal, which has 40 million users, sees about 75% of its total sales through mobile phones, according to the company.

The company has been actively scouting for acquisitions in the broader mobile and data analytics segment, and since the start of 2015 it has already announced four buyouts, including the $450 million (about Rs 2,880 crore) cash-and-stock acquisition of mobile recharge and payments venture Freecharge in April.

"It is all about getting to the market early with the technology. While Amazon has access to its global tech pool, Flipkart and Snapdeal will continue to acquire mobile tech firms," Ratul Ghosh, former head of strategy at eBay India and former chair of e-commerce committee told the financial daily.

In an exclusive chat with the ET last month, Snapdeal Chief Executive Kunal Bahl said that the company was aiming to make about 10 more acquisitions in the current fiscal. While the company did not disclose the size of its war chest, its recent purchases have been fuelled by the nearly $1 billion (about Rs 6,400 crore) it raised last year.

The company, which is in the midst of an attritional war with rival online marketplaces Flipkart and Amazon, is backed by a host of marquee strategic and financial investors, including Japan's SoftBank, BlackRock, eBay and PremjiInvest, the personal investment arm of Wipro chairman Azim Premji.