India’s gokwik has raised a small round of $13 million for a hefty leap in valuation

Gokwikthe Indian startup offering a suite of integrated e-commerce products, has raised a small round of $13 million.

The new funding round, led by RTP Global, is 63% smaller than the Series B $35 million announced in May 2022, but the New Delhi-based startup rates it at 43% more than its final $335 million valuation. The new funding also includes participation from existing investors in the startup, namely Z47, Peak XV Partners and Think Investments, bringing total funding to $68 million since its launch in 2020.

But what made Gokwik so appealing to investors? The products help you set up stores online, large and small, and enter consumer (D2C) spaces.

The D2C space is expected to see a significant increase over time as more brands are targeted online and the internet is poised to reach new homes. In India, the world’s second largest internet market after China and the most populous country, the D2C market is expected to reach $60 billion by 2027, up from $12 billion in 2022. Report (PDF) by kpmg.

Currently, Gokwik has over 12,000 paid merchants, rising to 2,500-3,000 a year ago, spreading across India, Europe, the UK and the US. These merchants use Shopify, Magento, Salesforce, and SaaS products that allow you to set up Shopify, Magento, Salesforce, and Woocommerce, and online stores to provide valid checkouts, online payments, and Return and Cash-Ondeliversivers. It also helps brands do Commerce through WhatsApp, a popular platform for businesses and consumers in markets such as India, parts of Europe and Brazil.

Gokwik counts its customers including Indian eyewear giant Lenskart, personal care brands Honasa Consumer, Cosmetics Company Lakmé, London’s Pepe Jeans and Licester’s Xplosive Ape.

Some of the products offered by Gokwik are also available to other players. For example, Razorpay and CashFree payments offer checkout solutions. Clevertap and Moengage provide CRM.

However, co-founder and CEO Chirag Taneja told TechCrunch that customers tend to buy at least two on average due to the integrated Gokwik product suite. “Using a login product can help improve retargeting. So, Kwikengage products will appear there. This is a piece from WhatsApp Commerce. Similarly, if you use a checkout product in an abandoned cart, an abandoned cart, you will be using a Kwikengage piece,” he said.

This has led Gokwik to increase its annual revenue by 20% year-on-year, reaching more than $30 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) this year, up from $25 million last year. This helped the brand handle the $2 billion cumulative gloss product value. This means that 55% of transactions include prepaid payments and 45% cash delivery. Of all prepaid payments, 80% are via the unified payment interface of the Indian government.

With new funding, Gokwik aims to expand its presence and customer base by entering new markets and increasing its presence in regions with a large consumer base, including Germany, France and Latin American countries, including Brazil. The startup will also strengthen its presence in AI products. It offers solutions such as AI that seeks an already abandoned cart. Additionally, the startup plans to enable Indian merchants to sell their products to foreign customers with a global checkout solution that integrates Stripe and other international payment processing services.

Gokwik currently has a runway of 60-70 months, with a bank nearly $35 million runningway targeting profitability within the next 18 months. It also appears to be released within the next 3-5 years. Meanwhile, the startup has attracted investors’ interest, but Taneja has confirmed that it is not raising more funds from TechCrunch than it is now.

The startup has around 400 people based primarily in offices in Gurugram and Bengaluru, as well as several employees also based in the UK.