Lightspeed Venture Partners-backed GetVee Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which operated dating app Vee, has pivoted its model for the second time to become an e-commerce enabler for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), its founder Nitin Gupta told Techcircle.
“We thought of it as an interesting opportunity with the change in the ecosystem, and the government’s push towards digitisation and online payments. So, we believe that we are at an inflexion point with the $50-billion SME market set for disruption,†Gupta said.
Called Zyk, the new platform offers more than 20 cloud-based services that can take care of critical functions at SMEs, including finance, sales, marketing, human resources and procurement. Small retailers can also use these tools to sell online on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and have their own website.
Zyk also provides backend tools such as order management, online payment gateways and inventory management. It claims to have 70 customers using the platform, and says it is acquiring one customer per day. Zyk is looking to acquire 1,000 customers over the next six months and also raise a fresh round of investment.
On the pivot, Gupta says the company was not seeing the growth he had planned, and that the Indian market was still not ready for mobile-based experiences around dating and relationships.
“We did not see word-of-mouth spreading for the product. Even if people were on the platform, they were not talking about it. I feel that is a very important metric for any social-based mobile product,†Gupta said about the app's limited adoption.
In 2015, the company had first pivoted its model, switching from the casual dating platform Vee to Wedlock, a matrimony assistant app that helped singles above the age of 24 look for a life partner. The company also launched Fym, an app targeted at people already in a relationship. However, the two were merged last year, after which they operated under the name Wedlock.
Wedlock is witnessing 30-40 transactions per day, with users buying digital currency on the platform. Gupta says it is generating revenue and will function on the auto-pilot mode until the whole team shifts to Zyk.
Gupta, a serial entrepreneur, had founded GetVee Technologies in May 2014. His previous venture, e-commerce platform Coinjoos, was acquired by HomeShop18 in August 2011.
In February last year, GetVee had raised an undisclosed amount in a bridge round from existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Portea chairman K Ganesh and CarDekho CEO Amit Jain. The funds raised in that round are being utilised for the current pivot.
GetVee had raised $1 million in pre-Series A funding from Lightspeed in November 2014.
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