Social commerce start-up SimSim raises Rs. 43.39 crore: Details here
What's the story
SimSim, a Delhi-based social commerce start-up which sells grooming products, has raised Rs. 43.39 crore ($6 million) in Series A round of funding.
Accel India and Shunwei Capital (via Astrent IV India) led the investment by infusing Rs. 17.91 crore each. Meanwhile, US-based Good Capital participated in the round with an investment of Rs. 7.16 crore.
Here's everything to know about SimSim.
SimSim
SimSim: An influencer-based e-commerce platform
SimSim is an influencer-based online marketplace started by Amit Bagaria, Kunal Suri, and Saurabh Vashishtha, the former executives from Paytm, McKinsey and Foodpanda.
The platform, which mainly focuses on selling wellness and grooming products, hosts videos of influencers and celebrities suggesting you the suitable products according to your requirement.
So far, SimSim has crossed over 500,000 app installs on Google Play Store.
Investment
The company has raised $7.3 million since its inception
The company, which was started this year itself, has raised $7.5 million (Rs. 48cr) so far. It had previously received $1.5 million seed funding from a batch of angel investors in April.
And, according to a latest Entrackr report, the firm is now valued at approximately Rs. 144cr.
It will deploy fresh funds to scale up its platform and expand its user base.
Shares
Accel India and Shenwei Capital will now own 12.5% stake
With the latest investment, Accel India and Shenwei Capital will now separately own a 12.5% stake in SimSim. Besides that, Good Capital, which also participated in the latest round, will own 13.69% equity in the start-up.
Notably, this is the second investment of China-based Shenwei in a social commerce start-up, the first being Bengaluru-based Meesho.
Competitors
Lastly, here's a look at the other social commerce start-ups
Like SimSim, there are several other social commerce start-ups that have attracted attention, of late. For instance, Meesho, a Bengaluru-based social commerce company has raised $215.2 million till now.
Likewise, BulBul Shop, which was started last year and follows a similar business model, is another player. It has received $3.5 million so far and is backed by giants like Sequoia Capital and Leo Capital.