Wooplr raises $8 million in series B funding
Wooplr will use the funds for product development and technology
New Delhi: Fashion discovery platform, Wooplr, said on Thursday that it has raised $8 million in a series B round of funding led by Sistema Asia Fund. Amereus Group and existing investor Helion Ventures also participated in the round.
The company will use the funds for product development and technology.
In December 2016, the company had raised $25,000-$30,000 from Anand Chandrasekharan, ex- chief product officer Snapdeal as part of a larger funding round, in which it raised less than $1 million from Astarc Ventures in October 2016.
Earlier, it had raised $5 million series-A from Helion Ventures in January 2015.
Launched in 2013 by Arjun Zacharia, Praveen Rajaretnam, Soumen Sarkar and Ankit Sabharwal, Wooplr is a consumer content-driven marketplace, where a user uploads his/her picture in his/her own outfit.
Other users can engage with the image, by liking it, following the user, find brands which are selling similar outfits and make a purchase from the mobile app or Wooplr’s website.
“We are happy to have Sistema and Amereus Group as part of this journey because they bring international experience and capabilities in consumer-focused technology business," said Zacharia in a statement.
Bengaluru-based Wooplr Technologies Pvt. Ltd. claims to have three million users. In December, Mint had reported that a million of these are active users, and 3-5% of the total users upload images. About 10,000 of such users are considered as influencers, who have at least 5,000 user followers, who regularly upload images and engage with users.
Majority of the users are from Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai, generating 200,000 posts per month.
Wooplr also monetizes by having brands work with influencers. The company has 200 brand partnerships including Forever21, Zara, Nykaa, whereby influencers promote these brands’ products.
“Such (brand) collaboration has huge revenue potential (for Wooplr) and for the brands to create awareness," Zacharia had said in an interview with Mint in December. He added that these brand partnerships contribute 15% of the revenue. The company aims its influencer community to grow over 50,000 by December 2017.
The company makes money by charging 20% of the order value as commission from the brands.
“Globally, companies like Mogujie (China) and Younique (US) have led socially driven commerce to greater heights and built unicorns. We believe Wooplr is set up right to create unique experiences for fashion shoppers in India,” said Evgeniy Ivanets, investment director, Amereus Group.
In fashion e-commerce, Wooplr competes with Tiger Global-backed Limeroad (AM Marketplaces Pvt. Ltd.) and Roposo (Relevant E-Solutions Pvt. Ltd.), Sequoia India-baced Voonik Technologies Pvt. Ltd., among others.
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First Published:9 Feb 2017, 02:35 PM IST
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