Ex-Flipkart, Alibaba exec backs Indian social commerce firm in $1.5m seed round

Social ecommerce platform ShopG announced the closure of its US$1.5 million seed round from venture capital funds Orios Venture Partners and RPSG Ventures.

The ShopG founding team (left to right): Pranay Suwalka, Ankur Arora, Yogesh Nehra, and Abhishek Mishra / Photo credit: ShopG

Angel investors such as former Flipkart and Alibaba exec Prasanth Nair, Blackbuck head chief Rajesh Yabaji, and ex-CEO of TaxiForSure Raghunandan G also participated in the round.

Established in November 2019, ShopG is building a platform powered by a network of local community leaders in India. It also partners with regional and small brands that have limited distribution reach.

The firm aims to cater to Bharat users, or those who prefer a non-digital lifestyle over a digital one. ShopG claims to currently have over 1,000 community leaders serving over 100,000 customers in a single Indian tier 3 city, where the business has also proven its profitability.

ShopG plans to use the funds to expand its community leader network in tier 3 and tier 4 cities in the country and further develop its technology. The company also plans to invest in building a supply of small regional brands and create a suite of direct-to-customer branded products.

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“With smartphones and the internet penetrating the smaller cities in India, this total addressable market is now more receptive to transacting online and buying branded products, provided that the platform is able to instill trust and authenticity,” said Abhishek Goenka, head and chief information officer at RPSG Ventures.

ShopG will also capitalize on the growing Indian ecommerce market, which is set to have a value of US$200 billion by 2026, according to research by India Brand Equity Foundation.