US$100m, or over R1bn. That’s the amount South African e-commerce site Takealot has raised from Tiger Global Management, an international investment company, according to a report on US website TechCrunch.

Takealot CEO Kim Reid CEO says Tiger Global has been a shareholder in Takealot since its inception and that, under Tiger’s watch, the e-commerce site, which competes head-on with Naspers-owned Kalahari.com, has been following an aggressive growth strategy.

Reid tells TechCentral that the company has been involved in discussions for some time about how Takelot can play a more aggressive role in South Africa’s e-commerce space and adds that the company has big plans for expansion.

“We have agreed on the capital expansion and the money has been raised and we are now funded to grow as we choose,” he says.

Tiger Capital took control of Takealot, then Take2, in 2011.

“We are on a rather aggressive growth path and we are going to continue with that,” says Reid. Those growth plans include expanding into the sub-Saharan African region, he says.

According to Reid, the company has enjoyed growth in excess of 100%/year and wants to “increase that growth rate”.

“If you look at the size of the market right now, there is a R550bn opportunity in which e-commerce is only just beginning to play a role.”

Reid says Takealot’s short-term focus is on consolidating the South African e-commerce space. “We are running hard on the heels of Kalahari, if we have not surpassed them already, and we think we will be the largest e-commerce player in South Africa in the next six to eight months.”

Takealot sells DVDs, games, music and books and items in lifestyle categories such as home and kitchen, baby and toddler, health and beauty, and sports. It has warehouses in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and has taken over fulfilment logistics with the purchase last year of a controlling interest in Mr Delivery. — © 2014 NewsCentral Media