Bikayi Raises $10.8 Mn In SeriesA Funding Led By Sequoia Capital India The company plans to accelerate product development, market penetration, and talent acquisition
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
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Hyderabad-based mobile e-commerce enabler Bikayi on Friday announced to have raised $10.8 million in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India.
Earlier in August 2020, the company had raised $2 million as a part of its Seed round of funding led by Y Combinator.
With the aim to scale up product offerings, the company plans to use this capital to accelerate product development, acquisition, and talent hiring.
"Our vision is to empower every small business to win in the emerging online market by providing them with affordable tools, helping them achieve unimaginable goals. We are on a mission to fulfill the aspirations of millions of small businesses that drive our economy. There are merchants who have made more than a million dollars via Bikayi e-stores in the span of a year. Such stories keep us obsessed to do better for our customers every single day," said Sonakshi Nathani, co-founder and chief executive officer, Bikayi.
Founded in 2019 by IIIT alumni Sonakshi Nathani and Ashutosh Singla, the business-to-business (B2B) company enables small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to scale up on digital platforms thereby enabling them to reach out to a wider audience base. The platform provides businesses with a digital storefront, professional features, and tools to help them grow. Some of the features include a business coach, catalog listing, shipping facility, payments, and also insights on customer behavior to manage their e-commerce stores through a single platform.
"India is on the cusp of an e-commerce revolution and we believe small and medium businesses will play a pivotal role in shaping this landscape over the next decade. India is home to over 75 million SMBs, which account for over 30 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP), employ over 130 million, and form the backbone of the economy. Rapid digitization of SMBs and the deepening of the e-commerce ecosystem are huge trends in India and Bikayi is building a next-gen product that sits at the confluence of both these trends, integrating the entire infrastructure of commerce onto one single platform. The team is excited to partner with Sonakshi, Ashutosh, and the Bikayi team in their mission to empower millions of SMBs to engage their customers online," commented Shraeyansh Thakur, vice president, Sequoia Capital India.
With its merchant base growing at fivefold over the last eight months, Bikayi's annual gross merchandise value (GMV) has grown 1800 per cent alongside. The company currently has more than 4 million registered users on the platform. Bikayi is helping them sell their products across India and stand tall in the constantly evolving online commerce industry.
