SpotKwik Inc., a shopping platform focussed on providing a social experience, has raised funding from a Silicon Valley-based accelerator.
Bengaluru-based SpotKwik has raised $35,000 (Rs 25.6 lakh) in a pre-seed round from MARL 5G Accelerator, co-founder and chief executive officer Mithun Adith told VCCircle.
SpotKwik has raised this capital at a valuation of $700,000 (around Rs 5.12 crore), he added.
In August, MARL 5G announced eight startups that will be participating in its ‘Fall, 2020 Cohort Portfolio’. SpotKwik was among them.
According to its website, MARL 5G Accelerator says it is a pre-seed fund that invests in startups creating deep-technology-based products and services for enterprise customers. Segments it concentrates on include augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR), mobility, robotics, and logistics.
The accelerator says it has worked with over 25 corporate institutions and has partnered venture capital firms including Bee Partners, Costanoa Ventures, NTT Venture Capital, Workday Ventures, and Samsung Next.
SpotKwik says its core offering is an AR-based social shopping platform where users can virtually try products before buying them, as well as solicit advice from their personal network for opinions and recommendations.
The company follows a revenue-share-per-transaction model, Adith said. It will use the capital it has raised to fund its product development, as well as for technological research and development and user growth.
The startup was set up by Adith and Anusha Sundar, both of whom are alumni of KSR College of Engineering. Adith has worked with entities including Wipro and Stan Ventures, while Sundar has also worked with Wipro.
SpotKwik says its current aim is to reach 3.5 lakh active users on its platform within the next two years, with a revenue goal of $500,000. The company cites social shopping platforms and reseller networks such as Trell, Marsplay and Meesho as its competitors.
In August, Trell raised $11.4 million (Rs 85 crore) in a Series A funding round led by KTB Network, with participation from Samsung Ventures, Sequoia accelerator programme Surge, Fosun RZ Capital, and WEH Ventures.
Marsplay raised capital in September last year from investors including Venture Highway, Xiaomi executive Alvin Tse, TPG Growth partner Shailesh Rao, and ICICI Venture director Nikhil Mohta.
Meesho raised $125 million (around Rs 885.7 crore) in August last year. The round was led by South African tech conglomerate and investor Naspers. Facebook, SAIF Partners, Sequoia Capital India, RPS Ventures, and Venture Highway also participated in the round.
