INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Simsim, a social commerce startup in India, said on Friday it has raised $16 million in seven months of its existence as it attempts to
replicate the offline retail experience in the digital world with help from influencers.The Gurgaon-based startup said it raised $16 million
across seed, Series A and Series B financing rounds from Accel Partners, Shunwei Capital and Good Capital
India are still happening in brick-and-mortar stores
approach to tackle this opportunity
On its app, users watch short-videos produced in local languages by influencers who apply beauty products or try out dresses and explain the
ins-and-outs of the products
educating users about the category
So many of them may not have used face masks, for instance
Capital, in an interview with A Technology News Room.Influencers typically sell a range of items and users can follow them to browse
through the past catalog and stay on top of future sales, said Bagaria, who previously worked at the e-commerce venture of financial
the inventories, which it sources from manufacturers and brands, and it works with a number of logistics players to deliver the
But these people have not been able to efficiently sell online or grow their network in the offline world
influencers, who get a commission for each item they sell, said Bagaria, who plans to grow this figure to 100,000 in the coming years.Even
as Simsim, which has been open to users for six months, is still in its nascent stage, it is beginning to show some growth
Bagaria.He said the platform, which currently supports Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and English, will add more than a dozen additional languages by
In about a month, Simsim also plans to start showing live videos, where influencers will be able to answer queries from users.A handful of
startups have emerged in India in recent years that are attempting to rethink the e-commerce market in the nation
Amazon and Walmart, both of which have poured billions of dollars in India, have taken a notice too
Both of them have added support for Hindi in the last two years and have made several more tweaks to their platforms to expand their reach.
