With a GMV of US$20 billion, India's social e-commerce has great development prospects

Although still in its nascent stage, the Indian social commerce sector is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 55%-60% to reach a gross merchandise value (GMV) of $16 billion to $20 billion by 2025 , all thanks to the increasing penetration of the internet and social media among consumers , as well as their exposure to e-commerce .

Social e-commerce platform CityMall raises $ 11 million

Recently, Gurugram-based social e-commerce startup CityMall announced that it has raised $11 million in a Series A round led by Accel Partners, with participation from existing investors Elevation Capital and WaterBridge. Since the news of the financing came out in November last year , CityMall claims that its revenue has grown 25 times.

CityMall , which was launched in 2019, is a community-driven social commerce platform . The company enables micro-entrepreneurs (community leaders on the platform ) to set up virtual stores on WhatsApp and use e-commerce tools and customer analytics. These sellers can use the app to communicate daily deals and exclusive offers to customers.

CityMall mainly targets users living in smaller cities , towns and villages, focusing on daily products such as groceries, including fresh food and packaged food, etc. Currently, it provides services in cities such as Rewari, Dharuhera, Pataudi, Sonipat, Bahadurgah, Jhajjar, Rohtak and Panipat.

CityMall plans to use the latest funding to strengthen its supply chain and logistics network and expand its coverage to 20 new cities in Tier 2, 3, and 4 markets. The company aims to increase the number of communities and customer networks to 200,000 by 2022.

India's social e-commerce companies are experiencing explosive growth

India's 300 million Internet users from small towns and villages rely on auxiliary business models driven by pricing, trust and feasibility to promote online purchases of daily products . Backed by this market with huge development potential, India's social e-commerce companies have also ushered in a period of explosive growth.

In addition to CityMall , which raised $11 million this time, Indian social commerce companies such as Meesho, SimSim, GlowRoad, Deal Share and Bulbul have also received a lot of attention from investors.

Meesho was founded in 2019 and has raised $215.2 million in eight rounds from investors including Facebook, Venture Highway, Sequoia Capital, DST Partners, etc. The company is reportedly in talks with Japan’s Softbank Vision Fund to raise another $250 million at a unicorn valuation .

Founded in 2018, BulBul has received funding from Sequoia Surge, Sequoia India, Leo Capital, InfoEdge and others.

DealShare, also founded in 2018, has raised $35 million to date , including $21 million in its Series C round in December 2020. WestBridge Capital, Alpha Wave Incubation, Matrix Partners India, and Omidyar Network India all participated in the round.

At the same time, SimSim has attracted interest from venture capital firms such as Good Capital, Accel India, and Shunwei Capital .

India

Social e-commerce

Financing