Accel, Shunwei Capital lead Series A in video-based ecommerce platform SimSim

Vernacular language video-based online shopping platform SimSim has raised $6 million in a Series A funding round led by Accel India and Shunwei Capital. Early stage investment firm Good Capital, and high networth individuals Sunil Kalra and Samarth Bedi participated in the round.

Both Accel India and Shunwei Capital invested Rs 17.91 crore each while Good Capital put in Rs 7.16 crore. Kalra and Bedi infused Rs 20 lakhs each, regulatory filings showed.

Post investment, Accel India and Shunwei Capital will own 12.50% each in the company while Good Capital takes its stake in the company to 13.69%. Kalra and Bedi will hold 0.46% each in SimSim, according to the filings.

Operated by SZS Tech, SimSim was founded by Amit Bagaria, Kunal Suri, and Saurabh Vashishtha. The platform features videos where experts, social media influencers and celebrities talk about their favourite products, how to use them and suggest products for videos. It offers beauty, skincare, personal hygiene and wellness products for women. Videos are currently available in Hindi and English, and the company is adding more regional languages.

According to an earlier report by digital media platform Entrackr, SimSim had raised $1.5 million from a clutch of top executives from Flipkart and McKinsey.

This is Shunwei Capital’s second investment in a social commerce platform in India. It had earlier participated in Bengaluru- and California-based Meesho’s last investment round.

Social commerce has been emerging as a promising segment in the online commerce space. Several companies have raised venture capital investments in the recent past. 

In August, social commerce app Meesho raised $125 million in a funding round, led by South African consumer internet group Naspers. The round saw participation from social media platform Facebook, SAIF Partners, Sequoia, Venture Highway, Shunwei Capital and RPS.

In May, Bengaluru-headquartered GlowRoad raised $11.5 million, led by Kora Investment Partners and Vertex Ventures. Social commerce platform for travel Airblack raised $1.5 million in seed round from SAIF Partners. In March, influencer driven social shopping app Bulbulshop raised around $2 million from Sequoia and Leo Capital.