Live-commerce platform Shopr.TV raises $1.7 million in seed capital from BEENEXT, Y-Combinator and others
India’s first dedicated live-only commerce platform for users to experience, shop and sell in real-time
BENGALURU, India, Oct. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Shopr.TV, India’s first dedicated live-commerce platform announced that it has raised $1.7 million seed capital from reputed global institutional investors, including BEENEXT, Y-Combinator, Locus Ventures, Shiprocket, Goodwater Capital, and more. Renowned angel investors such as Kunal Shah (CRED), Lalit Keshre (Groww), Venky Karnam (Afore Capital), amongst others, are also a part of the round. Shopr.TV will invest the funds into its technology, product, and team.
Live-commerce is a revolutionary take on e-commerce, allowing the instant buying of a product or service via live video streaming. The trend has been steadily growing in India, accelerated by stark changes in online consumer behaviour since the onset of the pandemic. An established and exponentially growing concept in China, live-commerce offers a unique model for retailers and individual sellers to create direct, real-time communication channels with customers, and consecutively make sales.
Recent market research figures indicate that the Indian live-commerce industry is projected to be worth about $5 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) by 2025. Shopr.TV was founded in 2021 by entrepreneurs Akhil Suhag, Akshay Suhag, Mukul Anand, and Tushar Dhara to address Gen-Z’s increasing appetite for live-commerce in India.
Akhil Suhag, Co-Founder and CEO, Shopr.TV, expressed his optimism, “Live-commerce is the natural next step in the evolution of e-commerce, and it has the potential to revolutionise the entire consumer experience. There is a refined layer of accessibility, credibility, and reliability that live-commerce brings to the online buyer-seller relationship. Our ambition is to create for India a shopping experience that’s engaging, highly interactive, and veritable. We have the right product, the right team, an enthusiastic market, and now the perfect partners who share our vision of transforming the way India shops.”
Since the platform went live earlier this year in June, Shopr.TV has established its dynamic live-commerce model, with buyers increasingly joining and engaging with live-streams to discover, experience, and shop all in real time. Shopr.TV allows sellers and retailers to reach out to their desired consumer demographics with live drops, virtual pop-ups, collection launches, and clearance sales. By helping sellers establish a direct line of communication with their consumers and, aided by first-hand feedback; live-commerce helps sellers accelerate sales conversions and move large chunks of inventory in a rather short period of time. A unique advantage of the platform is that it allows buyers to build trust in the sellers with direct interactions and engagement over live-streams.
On the occasion, Hero Choudhary, Managing Partner, BEENEXT, remarked, “We believe the live-commerce model is entertaining, immersive, and poised to keep consumers engaged as a new form factor for commerce. Sellers can optimise sales in real-time through better inventory management while interacting with their customers directly. At BEENEXT, we are enthusiastic about the Shopr.TV founding team and how they weave the thread of customer decision journeys from awareness to purchase, with the finesse of their product experience. We are excited to be a part of Shopr.TV’s journey to make the commerce experience more engaging while driving better conversion for sellers.”
Over the past few months, Shopr.TV has been on a trajectory of over 100% month-on-month growth, both in terms of GMV and the total number of orders – a testament to the huge market potential in the segment. The growth is completely organic and has been achieved without any customer acquisition costs. Currently, the platform hosts over a hundred sellers, offering everything from fashion apparel, thrift finds, and jewellery to cosmetics and beauty products.
Vishesh Khurana, Co-founder of Shiprocket, commented, “We strongly believe in the future of new-age e-commerce models for India. The reach and potential impact of live commerce is vast, and the way Shopr.TV amalgamates live commerce with social, creator-driven commerce is unique. We are excited to be a part of this journey of integrating entertainment with instant shopping.”
Diksha Singhi, Founder of A Little Extra, a leading brand selling on Shopr.TV, spoke about her experience, “The live selling experience on Shopr.TV was both thrilling and motivating. It reaffirmed our belief both in our products that they are genuinely good, and that our customers are loyal. It brought our customers together, created a live interaction and made them aware of our business, the team, and the products a lot better. We are now excited to launch our new collection on Shopr.TV, propelled by the power of live-commerce.”
About Shopr.TV:
Shopr.TV is a comprehensive live-commerce platform that allows buyers to discover, experience and shop for their favourite products, in real-time. Be it live drops, virtual pop-ups, collection launches or even a clearance sale, Shopr.TV enables sellers and buyers to engage with each other in the most dynamic, engaging and authentic way possible.
Shopr.TV is a team of passionate entrepreneurs, creative thinkers and experienced developers who are passionate about introducing the joy of ‘in-store’ shopping to e-commerce with the magic of live-commerce.
About BEENEXT:
BEENEXT is a Venture Capital fund managed by serial entrepreneurs that focuses on assisting founders with their operational experience, network, trust, unique perspectives, and capital. The team invests in early-stage tech start-ups that are focused on building new digital platforms driven by the data network. BEENEXT is a platform of founders, by the founders and for the founders across the globe, primarily in South East Asia, India and Japan. Since its establishment in 2015, the team has invested in over 200 companies globally. For more information, please visit www.beenext.com
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