SOSV Leads Pre-Series A Funding Round in Live Video Commerce Platform KIKO TV

MUMBAI, India, Jan. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KIKO TV, a company that has built a solution for live streaming video commerce for the Indian market, has raised an undisclosed amount in its pre-Series A funding round led by the US venture capital fund SOSV and will be shortly graduating from their Mobile Only Accelerator (MOX) program. The funding round is open and a few more investors are expected to co-invest in this round. SOSV provides intellectual and financial capital to accelerate founders' big ideas and is among the world's most active and successful global investors, having delivered a net IRR over the last 20 years that puts them in the top 10% of all venture funds worldwide. 

KIKO TV plans to disrupt the mobile commerce space with live shopping and live interactions between sellers and buyers, taking the native shopping experience to the virtual mobile screen. Their unique AI technology also scans entertainment content and shows suggested products for purchase by scanning products and apparel in the video being watched.

The money will be used to accelerate the product roadmap and increase adoption. KIKO TV recently raised their seed round from 9Unicorns and this is their second raise.

"We are extremely elated to be part of the SOSV MOX family, as the MOX program provides not only funding but also a lot of training to scale the business and access to their global mentor network. As the speed of internet available on all devices grows, and as the widespread use of 5G technology is becoming inevitable, live video commerce will be the future of shopping. It is our vision to be a market leader in this category," says Shivam Varshney, Co-founder and CEO of KIKO TV.

"Live video is the logical evolution of e-commerce and shopping habits. There are enormous opportunities for mobile-first players, and we cannot think of a better team to work with than KIKO TV," says William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV, Managing Director of MOX.

Live commerce, after taking off in China and other Asian markets, it is growing quickly in America and the rest of the world (Bloomberg). KPMG and Alibaba expected the live streaming e-commerce market in China to exceed USD 150 billion in 2020, and India is following suit (CNA).

About KIKO TV

KIKO TV was founded in August 2020 and is among the first movers in the live-video commerce sector. India has close to 500 million internet users, of which less than 10% transact online. Traditional e-commerce lacks instant buyer-seller interaction and there are also trust issues when buying from an unknown online seller. Live video commerce solves these issues, and helps stores get virtual "walk-in" customers, not just from their nearby locations, but from across the country. It also helps content creators monetize their video content.

About SOSV

SOSV is a multi-stage venture capital investor. We run multiple world-class vertical accelerator programs and provide seed, venture and growth-stage follow-on investment into superstar companies. Our unique full-stack model has delivered a net IRR over the last 20 years that puts us in the top 10% of all venture funds worldwide.

SOSV provides intellectual and financial capital to accelerate founders' big ideas for positive change. SOSV has funded over 1000 startups to date. We currently fund over 150 startups per year through our programs: HAX (hardware and connected devices), IndieBio (life sciences), Chinaccelerator and MOX (cross-border internet and mobile in Asia), dlab (blockchain, data and decentralization), and Food-X (food innovation). 

AI-based Live-Streaming Video Shopping Platform KIKO TV Raises Funding led by 9Unicorns

9Unicorns leads an undisclosed seed investment in KIKO TV, an AI-based live-streaming video shopping platform
 

The made-in-India video-commerce app was launched following the Indian government's ban on Chinese apps

Shivam Varshney, Founder - KIKO TV

Mumbai, 7th December, 2020: 9Unicorns, India's first idea-phase accelerator VC fund, has recently led an undisclosed seed investment in KIKO TV, India's first live streaming e-commerce platform committed to delivering an assisted shopping experience powered by AI. The funding round also saw participation from investors like Vinayak Srivastava and Saket Dandotia (Co-founders– Toch), Sunil Kumar Singhvi (Managing Partner at Singhvi Heritage LLP), and Srinivas Kotta (Senior Technical role at Adobe).

Founded in 2020 by IIT Bombay Alumni Shivam Varshney and Alok Chawla, KIKO TV aims to bring a native feel to the digital shopping experience of internet consumers through its live, interactive,and entertaining platform. Its AI-led technology is set to disrupt the social commerce market by leveraging social media's immense reach for enabling e-commerce. The entertainment app enables online retailers and influencers to create content for marketing, branding and sales while enabling a one-on-one live selling session with the potential buyers, creating a more authentic experience of the transaction. Apart from viewing, liking and sharing the videos, any user can become an influencer and sell their own product or brand instantly on the platform.

Alok Chawla, Co-Founder KIKO TV

Speaking on the investment, Shivam Varshney, Founder – KIKO TV, said, "We believe 9Unicorns and Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma are ideal investors and mentors for the long journey ahead for KIKO TV. We are very excited and enthusiastic about this partnership. KIKO will be using the funds for building and improving our technology and expanding our customer base."

The idea behind launching the app was to integrate both entertainment and live shopping experience for the users and hence redefine the overall seller-buyer relationship on social media platforms. Through automated content tagging, users can also instantly find related products from any video that is being played.

Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & Managing Director – 9Unicorns, said, "Social platforms today have turned into quick and convenient distribution channels for businesses. This new-age trend of social commerce is transforming the retail and e-commerce sector by influencing customers' purchase decision and habits. KIKO TV has great opportunity in this emerging market and the potential to reshape India's e-commerce landscape for the better. We hope that the funding fuels their vision of unlocking a more efficient and advanced future of sales and marketing for countless online businesses in India and beyond."

The home-grown app offers videos on travel, food, fashion, comedy, workout, lifestyle and product reviews and is available for download on both Android and iOS.

About 9Unicorns

9Unicorns is India's First Accelerator VC. It provides acceleration support & seed funding to early-stage startups. 9Unicorns provides funding upto $100K per startup in the first round, and may invest further $500K-$2Mn in successive rounds with its co-investors. From idea stage to angel stage, it supports startups across various themes & sectors.

9Unicorns' strength & focus is on a hands-on support ecosystem for startups, beyond capital. 9Unicorns, besides investment, opens doors to the startups for access to a wide network of successful founders, category-leaders, CXOs of large corporations, seasoned angel investors & partners of global VC funds. Every portfolio company receives an acceleration support for 3 months & post-investment support of 18 months.

For more information, please reach out to info@9unicorns.in or find more information at www.9unicorns.in 

KIKO TV gets $300K Funding from 9point8, Sunil Kumar Singhvi, other HNIs

Made in India App, KIKO TV gets INR 2 crore (USD 300,000) funding from 9point8, Sunil Kumar Singhvi and other well-known HNIs

India’s first AI-based short video E-Commerce & Entertainment platform has crossed 100k downloads on Android and iOS, achieving annualized GMV of INR 3.5 Crore within a month of launch

KIKO TV, India’s first AI-based short live video e-commerce platform, which was launched during the pandemic, as a solution for Indian consumers, after the anti-China sentiment, has received $300,000 funding from 9point8, Sunil Kumar Singhvi and other well-known HNIs.

KIKO TV, which is launched by Smooth Tag Technologies, is an interactive entertainment video-based app that allows users to view, like, share videos, and earn currency to shop within the app, while seamlessly enjoying their content. It also allows users to become influencers and live stream on the app by adding brands to sell instantly.

In the first phase itself, the platform has witnessed a tremendous response. Available on both Android and iOS, the app has crossed 100k downloads, with a daily increase in the active users by12%. It has signed up more than 50 merchants on the app and grossed annualized GMV of Rs.3.5 crores within a month of launch.

Currently, KIKO TV offers more than 75,000 videos of different genres like comedy, workout, travel, food, educational, fashion & makeup, and product reviews. With the onset of the festive season and market sentiments looking positive, the app has witnessed a meteoric rise in their in-app purchases.

With the Indian e-commerce industry and short format video industry expected to grow at CAGR 35% and CAGR 40% respectively, the entrance of KIKO TV makes it an interesting and viable market player, amidst the current situation. Market research shows that e-commerce surged by as much as 53% from small towns in India and this growth is expected to be primarily driven by Social Commerce.

Sunil Kumar Singhvi, Investor in KIKO TV said, “Social Commerce is the next generation trend that is reshaping the future of retail and commerce industry. Social commerce influences millennials’ purchase decisions and their shopping journey. KIKO TV enables content creation and social commerce which will fuel the fast-growing influencers' profession. KIKO TV will be the future of marketing, branding and sales channels for many online retailers.

Commenting on this new platform, Neeta, CSO of KIKO TV said, “We are glad to see a positive response towards our app in India. The idea behind launching this app was to provide entertainment and shopping experience to our users on their fingertips. With new technology evolving and being brought in our country, the current market space is exciting for tech start-ups like ours. We wanted to make a platform worthy of good content and seller-buyer relationship a little less complicated with this venture of ours and the initial response towards it has motivated us in our initiative.”

Company further added, “In the coming weeks, we aim to onboard a wide network of Indian content creators and e-commerce players and to build KIKO TV as a one-stop destination for short video content and e-commerce. With the festive season onboard the users-buyer relationship on KIKO TV will only get more exciting with amazing offers and discounts to look out for.”

KIKO TV uses AI technology which helps to detect pornography, weapons, cyber abuse, and crime scene to block/remove the video from the platform, thereby maintaining a more safe and comfortable streaming experience for the users and focusing on our goal to working towards a more secure platform of all.

Live bidding, live shopping, and interaction and video engagement will be the key areas for KIKO TV to be focused on in the upcoming weeks. KIKO TV is already planning simultaneous launches in Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines by early October. This app from India is aiming to be a truly global platform, Made in India.