Mumbai: Antique hunters can now shop for artifacts online. A click of the mouse can bring home handlooms, pottery or brass inlay work from artisans across the country.

According to Shibani Jain, chief executive officer of Craftsbridge.com, the site will be a "virtual portal" for handicrafts. "We aim to displace the entire middle layer involved in the handicrafts trade. We will source our products from the artisan or the middle-man he deals with," says Jain.

To begin with, the portal has put up 350 items including collectibles, statuettes, and personal accessories and home styling accessories.

More than selling handicrafts on the net, the idea is to build a community of artisans, non-government organizations and designers, says the young graduate of the National Institute of Design.

Offices have already been set up in Moradabad, Jaipur and Rajkot to source supplies. Attempts will also be made to link craftsmen and designers with customers. "Thanks to the Internet, people may commission the services of craftsmen and artisans. For instance, an artist may be commissioned via our site to paint a mural," says Jain.

However, a large part of the transactions, like negotiating payments, will be conducted offline. Also being planning is a chain of exclusive stores and counters in well-known department stores.

"Our revenue model is from the offline operations," says Jain. The enterprise is also hoping to make first contact with bulk buyers like hotels in the West by using the Net.

Though the company is yet to approach venture capitalists for funding, it has bagged a big incubator to help it take its first steps. Tata Interactive Systems, where Jain was employed as a designer, holds 30 percent of the company's stock. Jain owns the rest.

India Abroad News Service