India’s Shop101 Secures $3.9M To Boost Social Commerce

Shop101, the social commerce startup, has raised $3.9 million in a Series C funding round. Its current investors Kalaari Capital, Vy Capital, Unilever Ventures and Stellaris Venture Partners led the fundraising, according to a report from DealStreetAsia on Monday (March 16).

Founded by Abhinav Jain and Aditya Gupta in 2015, the Shop101 platform makes it possible for small business owners to sell their products online through such platforms as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.

In December of 2018, the startup raised $11 million in Series B funding from Unilever Ventures and Kalaari Capital. Its $5 million Series A round, also in 2018, was led by Stellaris Venture Partners and Vy Capital.

Several social buying and selling startups have launched in India over the past few years, including SimSim, which raised $8 million in a Series B round last month and Meesho, which notched $125 million in a Series D round in August. China’s eCommerce giant Alibaba also moved into the India social commerce space with its affiliate app, Yoli.

Other competitors in the space include Bulbul, EkAnek, GlowRoad, and WMall.

In 2019, Shop101 reported accelerated growth, with operating revenue of Rs 11.24 crore, up from Rs 2.20 crore in 2018.

In 2019, social commerce was the fastest-growing segment of India’s eCommerce business, with 10 million resellers and fundraising of $100 million in the past year. The rise is due to increased smartphone use in India, as well as inexpensive data and the proliferation of payment gateways and eWallets led by UPI.

In other news, India’s eCommerce market was anticipated to reach $150 billion by 2022 and to contribute 4 percent of GDP due to rising incomes and a boost in internet users, according to a 2018 report called Propelling India Toward Global Leadership in eCommerce.

“A ‘Make-for-India’ solution approach, along with conducive policy environment, can potentially make eCommerce a $150 billion market by 2022, with a globally leading compounded annualized growth rate of 35 percent,” the report said, according to Live Mint.