Exclusive: Shop101 raises Rs 29 Cr from existing backers

Social commerce continues to garner attention as Paytm and ShareChat had entered the segment recently. The poster boy in the segment - Meesho had attracted a lot of capital and scaling at a fast pace whereas the second-oldest player Shop101 has been growing steadily.

The Kalaari-backed firm has been in the market to raise Series C round for quite some time. While Shop101 is yet to find a fresh lead or backers, it’s raising Rs 28.69 crore from existing investors. 

According to regulatory filings, Shop101 would raise the aforementioned amount from its holding company - O(1). Existing investors Unilever, Kalaari and Stellaris also participated in what seems to be an ongoing Series C round.

O(1) Holding will pick up shares on behalf of VY Capital Holdings for Rs 13.66 crore. Unilever Venture Holdings would pour in Rs 9.10 crore while Kalaari Capital will be infusing Rs 4.55 crore. Stellaris Venture Partners India-I will invest Rs 1.36 crore.

Shop101 is expected to raise more funds as this Series C1 seems to be the first tranche of the ongoing Series C round. According to Entrackr’s back of the envelope calculation, the company will be valued close to Rs 417.26 crore after this investment. 

After execution of the resolution, VY Capital will have a 27.2% stake in the company whereas Stellaris will own 16.85%. Kalaari and Unilever will have stakes of 8.14% and 7.84%, respectively. Founded by Abhinav Jain, Kalpak Chhajed and Aditya Gupta, Shop101 had raised Rs 115 crore to date across Series A and B rounds. 

As far as the financial health of Shop101 in FY19 is concerned, it has registered five-fold growth in both revenue and losses. The company’s operating revenue surged to Rs 11.24 crore in FY19 from Rs 2.20 crore in the preceding fiscal. Its losses also jumped to Rs 35.57 crore in the last fiscal as compared to Rs 7.23 crore in FY18. 

The fresh funds will certainly help Shop101 grow further but the company will also have to bring in new investors with competition in the segment heating up.

Besides the debut of Paytm and ShareChat, a clutch of startups in video commerce (sub-segment of social commerce) have raised a considerable amount of capital and have been looking to scale quickly. Shop101 indirectly competes with BulBul, SimSim, and EkAnek. Its direct competitors are Meesho, Mall91, GlowRoad, DealShare and a few others.