KIKO TV Raises Pre-Series A Funding Led By SOSV The company plans to disrupt the mobile commerce space with live shopping and live interactions between sellers and buyers, taking the native shopping experience to the virtual mobile screen
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Mumbai-based live streaming video commerce platform KIKO TV on Monday announced to have raised an undisclosed amount in its pre-Series A funding round led by the US-based multi-stage venture capital fund SOSV and will be shortly succeeding through their mobile only accelerator (MOX) program.
The funding round is said to be open and a few more investors are expected to co-invest in this round.
The money will be used to accelerate the product roadmap and increase adoption, said the statement released.
The company plans to disrupt the mobile commerce space with live shopping and live interactions between sellers and buyers, taking the native shopping experience to the virtual mobile screen.
"We are extremely elated to be part of the SOSV MOX family, as the MOX program provides not only funding but also a lot of training to scale the business and access to their global mentor network. As the speed of the internet available on all devices grows, and as the widespread use of 5G technology is becoming inevitable, live video commerce will be the future of shopping. It is our vision to be a market leader in this category," shared Shivam Varshney, co-founder, and chief executive officer, KIKO TV.
The platform's artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology scans entertainment content and shows suggested products for purchase by scanning products and apparel in the video being watched, the press release further stated.
"Live video is the logical evolution of e-commerce and shopping habits. There are enormous opportunities for mobile-first players, and we cannot think of a better team to work with than KIKO TV," added William Bao Bean, general partner, SOSV, and managing director, MOX.
Launched in August 2020, KIKO TV has close to 500 million internet users in India, of which less than 10 per cent transact online.
According to the press release, traditional e-commerce lacks instant buyer-seller interaction and there are also trust issues when buying from an unknown online seller. Live video commerce solves these issues and helps stores get virtual walk-in customers, not just from their nearby locations, but from across the country. It also helps content creators monetize their video content.
KIKO TV recently raised their seed round from 9Unicorns and this is their second raise.
Live commerce, after taking off in China and other Asian markets, is growing quickly in America and the rest of the world, stated a report published by Bloomberg.
KPMG and Alibaba Group expected the live streaming e-commerce market in China to exceed $150 billion in 2020, and India is following suit, said news channel CNA.
