Ecommerce gets a big check

Every day, 100k+ smart people read our newsletter. You can sign up here.

---

Hello readers,

Another week, another win for the ecommerce industry. In the last few days, US$1.7 billion was poured into ecommerce companies – that’s 86% of the total disclosed funding. While we mostly have the retail chain of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries to thank for this, we can’t deny that the sector continues to be a hot space for investors.

So we lay out some resources you may need to keep track of all the recent movements in the ecommerce industry.

1. Big tech companies continue to invest in ecommerce for gains

Earlier this week, Instagram launched its shopping service in all countries, allowing users to check out items with a few taps while watching a IGTV video. Instagram also has plans to test this out on Reels, its TikTok rival product. This social commerce business model, which includes shopping from short-video apps and livestreaming, ties in closely with our next point.

2. Social ecommerce will continue to rise

Many ecommerce platforms seem to have hit a wall. This has led to the growing popularity of social ecommerce, creating a wave of disruption that changed the industry for good. Popularized by Tencent-backed Pinduoduo, this model has become a serious threat to China-based heavyweights Alibaba and JD.com. We’re also seeing a rise of social commerce startups in India and Indonesia.

3. Investors and traders love deal events, too

Today is 10.10, so likely you’re swarmed with a ton of deals from various ecommerce platforms. Similarly, Amazon’s upcoming Prime Day on October 13 is an important event not just for members who want to score some great discounts, it’s also significant for investors and traders. Prime Day results are said to be able to influence Amazon’s stock price. “If a trader buys stock on Prime Day and holds it for two weeks or a whole month, average returns are significantly better than other periods of the same duration.”

The biggest deals by country

🇮🇳 Reliance Retail: The retail arm of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries received US$1.7 billion from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, GIC – Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, and TPG Capital.

🇨🇳 Heji Pharmaceutical (和剂药业): Chinese medicine developer bagged US$41 million from Betta Pharmaceuticals, Hisun Pharmaceutical, Puissance Capital, and Tigermed.

🇯🇵 Bodygram: The Japanese company, which has developed advanced AI-powered technology that allows you to take accurate body measurements with just photos on your phone, has recently raised US$17 million from domestic and foreign investors.

M&A

Pitch decks for your reference

Lists of most active investors in the region

List of top-funded startups in Asia

Thoughtful reads

---