Matrix leads $5.5 mn round in GoKwik to fund geographical expansion

New Delhi headquartered platform for enabling e-commerce for merchants and direct-to-consumer brands GoKwik has raised $5.5 million (Rs 40 crore according to current exchange rates) in a round led by Matrix Partners India on Tuesday.   

Global investor RTP Global also invested in the round apart from marquee angel investors and serial entrepreneurs including Jitendra Gupta, founder of Jupiter; Uni co-founder Nitin Gupta; AngelList India partner, Utsav Somani; Park+ founder Amit Lakhotia; LivSpace founder, and Ramakant Sharma.   

According to the company, the proceeds from the new investment will primarily be used for scaling up and establishing a footprint in the Middle East and North Africa regions as well as to enter the South-east Asia market. The company will also be hiring talent across tech, data, and product engineering functions.  

Founded in 2020, GoKwik leverages artificial intelligence to solve merchant-first problems including return to origin (RTO) and cash on delivery (CoD) conversion rates for e-commerce players as well as D2C brands. GoKwik also provides checkout solutions to help improve checkout conversion rates.  

“E-commerce enablement players will play a pivotal role in fuelling the burgeoning Indian e-retail market which is projected to touch $120 billion in next 4-5 years. GoKwik is poised to redraft the traditional playbook by offering personalized solutions to improve overall conversion rates, help register higher GMV (gross merchandise value) with increased RoI (return on investments) and provide protection against risks such as RTO to e-commerce and D2C brands,” said Chirag Taneja, co-founder and chief executive officer, GoKwik.  

Currently, the GoKwik platform works with more than 75 digitally native brands, traditional e-commerce players and online marketplaces including boAt, Mamaearth, The Man Company, Heads Up For Tails, The Moms Co., OZiva, TCNS Clothing Co. (W, Aurelia and Wishful) among others.  

“India is seeing a surge of D2C brands and the share of non-marketplace, digital transactions for traditional as well as new-age brands is increasing rapidly. Some of this is driven by Covid but the trend is secular. This will create opportunities for companies such as GoKwik, to offer unique to India solutions that help merchants to sell more effectively online,” said Rajat Agarwal, managing director, Matrix India. 

In 2021, the online retail market is expected to see its biggest year-on-year growth till date, as the sector looks to clock almost $55 billion in sales, according to estimates from management consultancy RedSeer. 

This is a 45% jump from last year when overall sales or total GMV of goods sold on e-commerce stood at $38 billion. Further, according to RedSeer estimates, new customers expected to shop on e-commerce platforms are expected to double in 2021, standing at roughly 40 million. 

“The e-commerce industry is rapidly expanding across the globe and enablement tools such as those provided by GoKwik must grow and thrive at the same pace, which is why we have placed our faith in Chirag and the team. Given the recent spate of funding announcements in D2C brands, GoKwik will prove pivotal in the Indian growth story - but also for e-commerce clients of its own across the globe, as it expands internationally,” said Galina Chifina, partner at RTP Global.