Indian social commerce startup Simsim secures $6m from Accel, Shunwei, others

Social commerce startup Simsim has raised roughly US$6 million in a seed round led by Accel India and Shunwei Capital through Astrent IV India.

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The two investors have committed nearly US$2.5 million each, while new VC firm Good Capital, which just launched in September, has poured almost US$1 million into Simsim as part of the round, Entrackr reported. Following the deal, Accel and Shunwei now each have a 12.5% stake in Simsim, while Good Capital holds 13.69% equity.

Rounding out the seed round are angel investors Sunil Kalra and Samarth Bedi, who each invested about US$28,000 in the startup.

The SZS Tech-operated Simsim is now valued at about US$20 million, according to the report.

Founded by former Paytm, McKinsey, and Foodpanda execs, the startup is building a horizontal ecommerce platform that keeps the Indian consumers’ need for solutions in local languages in mind. To do this, Simsim enables opinion leaders and influencers to sell products to its users, mixing content and commerce.

Another Indian startup operating in the space is Meesho, which raised US$125 million in funding from a round led by internet giant Naspers. Shunwei Capital also participated in the round, alongside Facebook, SAIF, Sequoia Capital India, RPS Ventures, Venture Highway, and former Vodafone Group CEO Arun Sarin.

Bulbul, a livestreaming ecommerce platform, is also gaining traction. It claims to have served over 280,000 customers, with more than 400,000 transactions completed, since its launch in March. The startup, which joined Sequoia Capital India’s Surge accelerator program in April, is now raising a US$14.7 million round.