DIY e-commerce platform Zepo raises funds from Kunal Shah and LetsVenture

Mumbai-based e-commerce enabler for small businesses, Zepo has raised Rs 3.19 crore from FreeCharge co-founder Kunal Shah, LetsVenture and a clutch of investors.

Existing investor Anupam Mittal and Hetal Sonpal, former head of strategic alliances at Intel India, also participated in the round.

As per the company’s filings with the ministry of corporate affairs, it raised the funds in two tranches, in December 2016 and January 2017. It could not be ascertained if this was part of the firm’s seed round, reported VCCircle.

Founded by Nitin Purswani in 2011, Zepo is a Morpheus Gang company, which offers end-to-end e-commerce solutions. Currently, it has four product offerings: Zepo E-commerce, Zepo Marketing, Zepo Marketplace and Zepo Couriers.

Purswani is a serial entrepreneur and had earlier founded startups such as Bijess.in, a platform that helps bloggers setup their ecommerce stores, and Avatar T-shirts.

The platform helps small businesses and first-generation entrepreneurs make their first foray into online selling.  Its DIY (Do-it-yourself) platform for SMBs to easily start their own online stores without any tech knowledge. A complete online selling solution, Zepo offers everything from integrated payment gateways to marketing support.

The e-commerce platform claims to be used by more than 1,500 brands including Stori Fashions, professional football club Bengaluru FC and OYO Bazar. For courier, it has partnered with the leading companies, such as FeDex, BlueDart, aramex, Delhivery, DOTZOT, to name a few.

As per its financial statement, the company generated a gross revenue of Rs 3.22 crore in FY16 while incurring a total expenditure of Rs 4.52 crore.

In December 2014, the company had raised an undisclosed amount of funds from Anupam Mittal, CEO of People Group and One97 Mobility Fund.

The company competes with the likes of Buildabazaar, KartRocket , Shopify, Martjack, including several others.