Social commerce firm GlowRoad bags $7 mn from existing backers

By Narinder Kapur

  • 03 Nov 2020
Credit: VCCircle

Sociofy Enterprises Pvt Ltd, which operates social commerce startup GlowRoad, has raised $7 million (Rs 52 crore) in funding from a clutch of existing investors, according to a report.

Participating investors in this exercise include Accel, Singapore-based Vertex Ventures, and the IND Fund, Entrackr reported, citing regulatory filings in Singapore.

This comes nearly 18 months after Bengaluru-based GlowRoad said it had raised $11.5 million (around Rs 80 crore) in an extended Series B round of funding from investors including Korea Investment Partners (KIP) and Vertex Ventures.

GlowRoad had secured $10 million in a Series B round led by Chinese alternative asset management firm CDH Investments. It had first secured $2 million in Series A funding from Accel in September 2017.

GlowRoad was set up in 2017 by Sonal Verma, Kunal Sinha, and Shekhar Sahu. According to its website, Nitesh Pant and Nilesh Padariya are also co-founders. 

The woman-focussed reseller platform says it gives users access to a virtual shop, as well as provides sellers with payments and shipping facilities.

Per the Entrackr report, Accel is now the largest shareholder in GlowRoad, holding a 22.5% stake. Verma and Sinha hold 18.56% and 17.2% in the company, respectively, while the IND Fund and Vertex Ventures hold 13.4% and 10.68%, respectively. Korea Investment Partners and RB Investments each hold 4.75%.

VCCircle has reached out to GlowRoad on the details of this fundraise and will update this report accordingly.

The reported fundraise by the company indicates continued interest in the social commerce space, with several transactions having taken place in the last couple of years.

In September, coupons and cashback platform CashKaro said it had raised $10 million (around Rs 73.4 crore) in a Series B round led by KIP. Kalaari Capital also participated in this round. The company said it would use a part of the funding to expand its social commerce arm, EarnKaro.

In August, video and commerce platform Trell raised $11.4 million (Rs 85 crore) in a Series A funding round led by KTB Network, a South Korea-based financial services group. Samsung Ventures, Sequoia accelerator programme Surge, Fosun RZ Capital, and WEH Ventures also took part in the round.

In November last year, Chiratae Ventures and SAIF Partners led a Rs 64 crore (around $8.9 million) Series B round in WMall, which also counts Venture Highway among its investors.