Collaborative Commerce Platform Oyela Raises INR 144 Million in Seed Funding Founded by Rahul Gope and Anjan Kumar Patel in 2021, the start-up aims to empower budding entrepreneurs, businesses, artists and creators by easily setting up and managing their digital storefronts.

Oyela, a collaborative commerce platform, has announced that it has secured a funding of INR144 million in a seed round. The funding round was led by Prime Venture Partners.

Founded by Rahul Gope and Anjan Kumar Patel in 2021, the start-up aims to empower budding entrepreneurs, businesses, artists and creators by easily setting up and managing their digital storefronts.

"The inspiration behind Oyela is deeply personal. Hailing from the Andaman Islands, I once ran an online pearl boutique. Ultimately, my venture died down due to lack of discovery and operational barriers. Seeing the explosion of creative entrepreneurship in India, I recognised that these challenges could resonate with aspiring entrepreneurs. Oyela was born from this vision, aiming to provide others with the tools and opportunities I wish I had during my entrepreneurial journey," said Rahul Gope, Co-founder and CEO, Oyela.

Oyela secured funding of INR 41 million in its pre-seed round last year from investors such as Good Capital, Upsparks Capital, and Eximius Ventures. As per the official release, over 20,000 Instagram stores have been onboarded on the platform in the last 12 months, where many have "seen up to 2.5X growth in orders at ₹0 cost of new buyer acquisition."

"The GenZ population are e-commerce natives and are also open to experimenting with fashion. Currently, there are more than 200M businesses/sellers on Instagram globally. The next 10 years of e-commerce growth will have a meaningful contribution from these Gen Z sellers. Oyela provides solutions to streamline and automate their social-media led commerce business. We are impressed by the team at Oyela and we believe they are on the brink of transforming the social commerce landscape in India. The team has shown remarkable insight in recognising the challenges faced by Instagram sellers and offering a solution that not only solves these issues but opens up new avenues for growth. This is an exciting time in the social commerce sector, and we believe Oyela is perfectly positioned to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead," shares Amit Somani, Managing Partner, Prime Venture Partners.

Gope further added that the new funds will be used to enhance the platform and help achieve its target of empowering two million social stores in the next five years. Additionally, it plans to strengthen its e-commerce tech, develop conversational commerce engines, and streamline the supply chain for entrepreneurs and creators. It aims to comprise 1.6 per cent of the e-commerce market and 9.5 per cent of the Indian social commerce market.

Last year, the company secured INR 41 million in pre-seed funding from a consortium of investors that included Good Capital, Upsparks Capital, and Eximius Ventures.