Women Focussed Media-Tech Platform POPxo Launches E-Commerce Store

POPxo, India’s largest digital community for women today announced the launch of its e-commerce platform selling private label merchandise. POPxo is the market-leader in creating short and engaging content. The recent success of its first web series, “Unmarried” has established POPxo in the long format content space as well. Now it’s all set to enter the world of retail with products that are well-priced and designed to appeal to the millennial audience. The pricing for the new range of products starts at Rs. 299, for mugs. Laptop bags are priced at Rs. 999, canvas pouches at Rs. 599 and tote bags at Rs. 999.

POPxo Founder & CEO, Priyanka Gill says “Millennial women are a large and under-served market, especially in the lifestyle products category. The POPxo ecommerce platform will create and sell product lines especially for them. We already know what appeals to women online - our private label is a natural extension. Content-Community-Commerce has always been our mission and with this launch we solidify our position.”

“We are uniquely placed as the marketing costs for our ecommerce platform are very low. We already have millions of women who engage with POPxo content on a daily basis - now we hope to wow then with our private label offering”, she adds.

Vani Kola, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital says, “POPxo has established itself as a content-platform-of-choice for young women in India with a strong community of over 17M users. We believe that Commerce is the most logical step for the company at this stage. The lifestyle products market is fragmented & women-centric, and POPxo’s private label can service this market really well through its rich data-driven personas & enhanced personalization.”

Just like their content, POPxo’s merchandise has been designed especially for their users. With five collections to suit every mood and personality, the content giant is offering lifestyle produces like laptop sleeves, tote bags, multi-purpose pouches, phone covers, and lots more. They will expand into fashion and beauty over the next few months.

Shubham Jain, Business Head - Ecommerce at POPxo says, “From design to production and distribution - we are running the entire process in-house and via our partnerships with service providers. It is very exciting to launch ecommerce for an established brand, loved by millions as we have a large, established buyer base and proven marketing strength.”



Here are their debut collections:

POP Woman

Sugar meets spice in this collection. The “POP Woman” knows her style, speaks her mind, and isn’t afraid to match hot pink with saucy red. And this collection is perfect for her!

So Desi

Know someone who has a flair for drama? Who spouts Bollywood dialogues in everyday conversation? POPxo’s “So Desi” collection is right up their alley. After all, why say gold when sona sounds so much better?

Wanderlust

Can’t stay in one place? The “Wanderlust” collection is meant for the girl with a traveller’s heart. From summer tote bags to pretty notebooks, everything here reminds you take a break. Did someone say beach?

My POPxo

It’s their signature line for millions of POPxo fans out there. POPxo is all about strong, powerful women who are not afraid of their feminine side and who embrace all that’s good and happy in the world. Reflecting this, the POPxo collection is all about pretty pastels and self-affirming thoughts.

Boss Woman

If you’re going to take over the world then you need your tools to remind you of your mission every.single.day. Which is why POPxo’s “Boss-Woman” collection is just what you need. Diaries, laptop sleeves, phone covers, everything here will remind you that you’re a #bosswoman all set to take on the world.

Founded in 2013 by Priyanka Gill and Namrata Bostrom, POPxo recently raised Rs 37 crore in funding in March 2018. The investment round was led by Neoplux and smartphone maker OPPO, with participation from existing investors IDG Ventures India, Summit Media, and GREE Ventures.

On June 29, 2018, POPxo released its first-ever webseries ‘Unmarried’, a hilarious and relatable take on how marriage suddenly becomes the centre point in the lives of our three protagonists - Kritika, Abhishek and Chirag, and how they deal with the pressure. The series is available on POPxo’s app.

Earlier in April 2017, POPxo had raised $3.1 million in a Series B funding round led by Japanese venture capital firm GREE Ventures with participation from its existing investors Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures India.

Women Focussed Media-Tech Platform POPxo Launches E-Commerce Store

POPxo, India’s largest digital community for women today announced the launch of its e-commerce platform selling private label merchandise. POPxo is the market-leader in creating short and engaging content. The recent success of its first web series, “Unmarried” has established POPxo in the long format content space as well. Now it’s all set to enter the world of retail with products that are well-priced and designed to appeal to the millennial audience. The pricing for the new range of products starts at Rs. 299, for mugs. Laptop bags are priced at Rs. 999, canvas pouches at Rs. 599 and tote bags at Rs. 999.

POPxo Founder & CEO, Priyanka Gill says “Millennial women are a large and under-served market, especially in the lifestyle products category. The POPxo ecommerce platform will create and sell product lines especially for them. We already know what appeals to women online - our private label is a natural extension. Content-Community-Commerce has always been our mission and with this launch we solidify our position.”

“We are uniquely placed as the marketing costs for our ecommerce platform are very low. We already have millions of women who engage with POPxo content on a daily basis - now we hope to wow then with our private label offering”, she adds.

Vani Kola, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital says, “POPxo has established itself as a content-platform-of-choice for young women in India with a strong community of over 17M users. We believe that Commerce is the most logical step for the company at this stage. The lifestyle products market is fragmented & women-centric, and POPxo’s private label can service this market really well through its rich data-driven personas & enhanced personalization.”

Just like their content, POPxo’s merchandise has been designed especially for their users. With five collections to suit every mood and personality, the content giant is offering lifestyle produces like laptop sleeves, tote bags, multi-purpose pouches, phone covers, and lots more. They will expand into fashion and beauty over the next few months.

Shubham Jain, Business Head - Ecommerce at POPxo says, “From design to production and distribution - we are running the entire process in-house and via our partnerships with service providers. It is very exciting to launch ecommerce for an established brand, loved by millions as we have a large, established buyer base and proven marketing strength.”



Here are their debut collections:

POP Woman

Sugar meets spice in this collection. The “POP Woman” knows her style, speaks her mind, and isn’t afraid to match hot pink with saucy red. And this collection is perfect for her!

So Desi

Know someone who has a flair for drama? Who spouts Bollywood dialogues in everyday conversation? POPxo’s “So Desi” collection is right up their alley. After all, why say gold when sona sounds so much better?

Wanderlust

Can’t stay in one place? The “Wanderlust” collection is meant for the girl with a traveller’s heart. From summer tote bags to pretty notebooks, everything here reminds you take a break. Did someone say beach?

My POPxo

It’s their signature line for millions of POPxo fans out there. POPxo is all about strong, powerful women who are not afraid of their feminine side and who embrace all that’s good and happy in the world. Reflecting this, the POPxo collection is all about pretty pastels and self-affirming thoughts.

Boss Woman

If you’re going to take over the world then you need your tools to remind you of your mission every.single.day. Which is why POPxo’s “Boss-Woman” collection is just what you need. Diaries, laptop sleeves, phone covers, everything here will remind you that you’re a #bosswoman all set to take on the world.

Founded in 2013 by Priyanka Gill and Namrata Bostrom, POPxo recently raised Rs 37 crore in funding in March 2018. The investment round was led by Neoplux and smartphone maker OPPO, with participation from existing investors IDG Ventures India, Summit Media, and GREE Ventures.

On June 29, 2018, POPxo released its first-ever webseries ‘Unmarried’, a hilarious and relatable take on how marriage suddenly becomes the centre point in the lives of our three protagonists - Kritika, Abhishek and Chirag, and how they deal with the pressure. The series is available on POPxo’s app.

Earlier in April 2017, POPxo had raised $3.1 million in a Series B funding round led by Japanese venture capital firm GREE Ventures with participation from its existing investors Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures India.

China's Oppo Makes First India Investment With Funding of Digital Media Startup POPxo

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo has made its first India investment with funding of New Delhi-based women-centric digital media startup POPxo. Oppo along with South Korean company Doosan Corporation’s investment arm led the $5.52 million (~ Rs.37 crore) funding in POPxo.

Existing investors, including Japanese firm GREE Ventures, IDG Ventures India, Kalaari Capital and Philippines-based Summit Media, also participated in the round. The funds raised will be used for product development and to increasingly tap into vernacular markets.

Founded in 2013 by Priyanka Gill and Namrata Bostrom, POPxo is India's online community for women that deals everything from fashion, beauty, lifestyle, work, and etc. The startup claims to have 14.3 million monthly users, with 82% of its users being female and over 70% of its traffic coming from outside the top five metros in India. Since July 2017, the company also has over 23,000 influencers across over 100 cities in India.

Priyanka is a London-based angel investor and writer for various Indian and UK publications while Namrata is no longer with the company.

Speaking about the fresh funding Priyanka Gill, CEO & founder of POPxo, said, “Oppo set the price for our investment round and has been one of our biggest clients prior to becoming an investor. We did a lot of their digital launches in India and Neoplux brings in Korean beauty brands."

“POPxo has been a key partner in our digital strategy in India. We are confident that POPxo will become a significant player in the ecommerce segment with their ability to create content at scale and drive user engagement,” said James Zheng, Oppo India investment manager.

Earlier in April 2017, POPxo had raised $3.1 million in a Series B funding round led by Japanese venture capital firm GREE Ventures with participation from its existing investors Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures India. Prior to that, the startup had raised $2 million in a Series A funding round in November 2015 led by IDG Ventures and Kalaari Capital, with participation from 500 Startups, and a year before that, POPxo had raised Rs 3 crore from investors including Google India head Rajan Anandan. To date, the Startup has raised a total of US $11.5 million.

Of late, startups in India are attracting notable Chinese smartphone companies including Xiaomi, which had recently (January) invested in $18.2 Million in ShareChat, a Bengaluru-based social networking app. Xiaomi made its first investment in India when, in 2016, it lead the $25 million funding round into Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, a Mumbai heaquartered aggregator and publisher of entertainment content on the internet.

Last month, Xiaomi announced that it will invest Rs 6,000-7,000 crore in around 100 startups in India over the next five years to strengthen its hardware and software ecosystem.

The above development was first reported in Economic Times.

China's Oppo Makes First India Investment With Funding of Digital Media Startup POPxo

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo has made its first India investment with funding of New Delhi-based women-centric digital media startup POPxo. Oppo along with South Korean company Doosan Corporation’s investment arm led the $5.52 million (~ Rs.37 crore) funding in POPxo.

Existing investors, including Japanese firm GREE Ventures, IDG Ventures India, Kalaari Capital and Philippines-based Summit Media, also participated in the round. The funds raised will be used for product development and to increasingly tap into vernacular markets.

Founded in 2013 by Priyanka Gill and Namrata Bostrom, POPxo is India's online community for women that deals everything from fashion, beauty, lifestyle, work, and etc. The startup claims to have 14.3 million monthly users, with 82% of its users being female and over 70% of its traffic coming from outside the top five metros in India. Since July 2017, the company also has over 23,000 influencers across over 100 cities in India.

Priyanka is a London-based angel investor and writer for various Indian and UK publications while Namrata is no longer with the company.

Speaking about the fresh funding Priyanka Gill, CEO & founder of POPxo, said, “Oppo set the price for our investment round and has been one of our biggest clients prior to becoming an investor. We did a lot of their digital launches in India and Neoplux brings in Korean beauty brands."

“POPxo has been a key partner in our digital strategy in India. We are confident that POPxo will become a significant player in the ecommerce segment with their ability to create content at scale and drive user engagement,” said James Zheng, Oppo India investment manager.

Earlier in April 2017, POPxo had raised $3.1 million in a Series B funding round led by Japanese venture capital firm GREE Ventures with participation from its existing investors Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures India. Prior to that, the startup had raised $2 million in a Series A funding round in November 2015 led by IDG Ventures and Kalaari Capital, with participation from 500 Startups, and a year before that, POPxo had raised Rs 3 crore from investors including Google India head Rajan Anandan. To date, the Startup has raised a total of US $11.5 million.

Of late, startups in India are attracting notable Chinese smartphone companies including Xiaomi, which had recently (January) invested in $18.2 Million in ShareChat, a Bengaluru-based social networking app. Xiaomi made its first investment in India when, in 2016, it lead the $25 million funding round into Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, a Mumbai heaquartered aggregator and publisher of entertainment content on the internet.

Last month, Xiaomi announced that it will invest Rs 6,000-7,000 crore in around 100 startups in India over the next five years to strengthen its hardware and software ecosystem.

The above development was first reported in Economic Times.

Women-Centric Media Platform POPxo Appoints Rana Handa as Chief Business Officer

POPxo, India’s largest community for women, has appointed Rana Handa as Chief Business Officer. Rana was previously the Head of Revenue at ScoopWhoop Media Pvt. Ltd.

“I am extremely excited to begin this journey at POPxo. Given the large and engaged female demographic that POPxo addresses, there is a real opportunity to capitalise on this key audience base. The data that POPxo has on the content consumption habits, concerns and brand preferences of millions of women is going to be a game changer. I am looking forward to this massive opportunity - working with a great team to capture this lucrative market”, said Rana Handa, on being appointed, Chief Business Officer, POPxo.

“Rana will be responsible for the company’s P&L and new business development, leading the revenue and sales division. Given his stellar career, experience and unrivalled network in the industry, I am sure he will do an outstanding job. POPxo is at a crucial juncture - we have managed to build a large and loyal audience. Now alongside growth, we are focussing on monetisation and getting to monthly breakeven,” added Priyanka Gill, Founder and CEO, POPxo

Rana has had an exciting career over the last 15 years, working with major networks, brands and digital media mavericks, to be recognized today as an expert in providing integrated solutions through innovative ideas and concepts and driving higher revenues. His past endeavours include ScoopWhoop(As Head of Revenue), 9X Media (As Vice President- National Sales Head), Time Warner Inc. (Director- Advertising Sales) and STAR India amongst others.

With over 9 million users, 160 million content engagements across its platforms, and a predominantly female user base, POPxo is India’s largest online destination where Indian women read, watch, shop and hangout. It recently launched Plixxo, an influencer management platform with thousands of signed up influencers.

POPxo is adding new revenue streams like display and programmatic ads as well as affiliate revenue. It is also looking to further capitalise on its strength in video as part of its monetisation strategy. In June 2017, POPxo videos got over 115 million views - given this reach and audience engagement, the company will produce its first web series later this year.

POPxo has, in the past, partnered with leading consumer brands such as Myntra, Hindustan Unilever, Puma, Whisper, Tanishq, OPPO, L’Oreal, Reliance and Jabong to amplify brand messaging to its demographic through native advertising and large-scale influencer activations. Such partnerships have helped these brands achieve high levels of target audience engagement, customer acquisition and transactions. POPxo has worked with over 175 brands till date.

POPxo Launches Influencer Marketing Platform, Plixxo; Aims to On-board10K Influencers in Next 6 Months

POPxo, India’s largest online community for women, today announced the launch of Plixxo, an influencer marketing platform. It will incorporate POPxo’s existing influencer network which has been active since 2015 and comprises of 5000 influencers including India’s top & upcoming bloggers as well as campus ambassadors across 100 colleges in 12 cities.

Speaking about the launch of Plixxo, Priyanka Gill, Founder & CEO - POPxo, said, “POPxo has been the market leader in Influencer marketing for a few years now. We wanted to use technology to automate and simplify the process and scale up. The launch of Plixxo as an influencer management platform, will be a game changer for not only the influencer community but also for brands.”

Plixxo aims to get all digital influencers in India on one platform and connect them with brands to create engaging content that will collectively reach out to millions of their followers. Post sign up, the Influencer gets a customised and shareable profile with dynamic social media feeds that update in realtime. Unlike other platforms, the journey of an Influencer from sign up to payment after completion of a campaign on Plixxo is fast and hassle free. The platform addresses a lot of the issues both influencers and brands face during a marketing campaign.

“For influencers, Plixxo is a platform where their verified profiles and stats are in one place. It’s also a business generation tool - where they can pick up brand campaigns and get paid. For brands, Plixxo makes searching for influencers, verifying their reach numbers, launching campaigns at scale easy. It will also automate the reporting process”, she added.

The new platform will open up to all female and male influencers including Bloggers, YouTubers, Instagram influencers and Twitterati across categories like fashion, beauty, travel, decor, tech, food, parenting and more. Plixxo aims to onboard 10,000 influencers in the next 6 months.

Palki Malhotra, VP Plixxo said, “We have been running large scale influencer campaigns for a while and managing them was very time consuming. As a platform, Plixxo will make influencer marketing very easy and scalable. India is yet to witness the coming together of social media power houses on one platform - they are the real trendsetters. With the launch of Plixxo, the community will be engaged in a structured, transparent manner - ensuring that influencers are well compensated and each brand campaign hits its ROI targets .”

POPxo’s in-house influencers have a combined followership of more than 12.5 Million across various social media platforms. For the recently concluded ‘End of The Reason Sale’ of Myntra, influencers on POPxo’s platform reached out to over 2.5 million people during the duration of weeklong campaign.

POPxo has, in the past, partnered with leading consumer brands such as Hindustan Unilever, Puma, Myntra, Tanishq, OPPO, L’Oreal, Fastrack and Jabong to amplify brand messaging through large-scale influencer activations. Such partnerships have helped these brands achieve high levels of target audience engagement, customer acquisition and transactions. The need for an influencer management platform arose from the increasing demand for Influencer led activations by brands.

In April 2017, POPxo raised Rs 20 Crore ($3.1 million) in funding led by IDG Ventures India and Kalaari Capital with participation from GREE Ventures (Japan), Summit Media (Philippines), Atul Goel and Gurpreet Singh.

POPxo Launches Influencer Marketing Platform, Plixxo; Aims to On-board10K Influencers in Next 6 Months

POPxo, India’s largest online community for women, today announced the launch of Plixxo, an influencer marketing platform. It will incorporate POPxo’s existing influencer network which has been active since 2015 and comprises of 5000 influencers including India’s top & upcoming bloggers as well as campus ambassadors across 100 colleges in 12 cities.

Speaking about the launch of Plixxo, Priyanka Gill, Founder & CEO - POPxo, said, “POPxo has been the market leader in Influencer marketing for a few years now. We wanted to use technology to automate and simplify the process and scale up. The launch of Plixxo as an influencer management platform, will be a game changer for not only the influencer community but also for brands.”

Plixxo aims to get all digital influencers in India on one platform and connect them with brands to create engaging content that will collectively reach out to millions of their followers. Post sign up, the Influencer gets a customised and shareable profile with dynamic social media feeds that update in realtime. Unlike other platforms, the journey of an Influencer from sign up to payment after completion of a campaign on Plixxo is fast and hassle free. The platform addresses a lot of the issues both influencers and brands face during a marketing campaign.

“For influencers, Plixxo is a platform where their verified profiles and stats are in one place. It’s also a business generation tool - where they can pick up brand campaigns and get paid. For brands, Plixxo makes searching for influencers, verifying their reach numbers, launching campaigns at scale easy. It will also automate the reporting process”, she added.

The new platform will open up to all female and male influencers including Bloggers, YouTubers, Instagram influencers and Twitterati across categories like fashion, beauty, travel, decor, tech, food, parenting and more. Plixxo aims to onboard 10,000 influencers in the next 6 months.

Palki Malhotra, VP Plixxo said, “We have been running large scale influencer campaigns for a while and managing them was very time consuming. As a platform, Plixxo will make influencer marketing very easy and scalable. India is yet to witness the coming together of social media power houses on one platform - they are the real trendsetters. With the launch of Plixxo, the community will be engaged in a structured, transparent manner - ensuring that influencers are well compensated and each brand campaign hits its ROI targets .”

POPxo’s in-house influencers have a combined followership of more than 12.5 Million across various social media platforms. For the recently concluded ‘End of The Reason Sale’ of Myntra, influencers on POPxo’s platform reached out to over 2.5 million people during the duration of weeklong campaign.

POPxo has, in the past, partnered with leading consumer brands such as Hindustan Unilever, Puma, Myntra, Tanishq, OPPO, L’Oreal, Fastrack and Jabong to amplify brand messaging through large-scale influencer activations. Such partnerships have helped these brands achieve high levels of target audience engagement, customer acquisition and transactions. The need for an influencer management platform arose from the increasing demand for Influencer led activations by brands.

In April 2017, POPxo raised Rs 20 Crore ($3.1 million) in funding led by IDG Ventures India and Kalaari Capital with participation from GREE Ventures (Japan), Summit Media (Philippines), Atul Goel and Gurpreet Singh.

Women-Focused Media Startup POPxo Raises Rs 20 Cr Led by IDG Ventures India and Kalaari Capital

POPxo, India’s largest digital community for women, today announced raising Rs 20 Crore ($3.1 million) in funding. The investment round was led by IDG Ventures India and Kalaari Capital with participation from GREE Ventures (Japan), Summit Media (Philippines), Atul Goel and Gurpreet Singh.

POPxo is a dynamic digital media platform attracting over 9 million loyal and engaged users every month. They largely access the platform on mobile devices across app and web. 80% of POPxo users are female (18-35), and over 70% of traffic comes from outside the top 5 cities. Since its launch in March 2014, POPxo has become the go-to fashion, beauty and lifestyle destination for women across the country. It runs India’s largest Influencer Network of bloggers as well as campus ambassadors across 200 campuses in India.

POPxo partners with leading consumer brands like Hindustan Unilever, Puma, Whisper, Tanishq, OPPO, L’Oreal, Reliance, Amazon and Jabong to amplify brand messaging to this key demographic through native advertising and large-scale influencer activations. Such partnerships have helped brands achieve high levels of target audience engagement, customer acquisition and transactions. POPxo has worked with over 175 brands.

POPxo Founder & CEO Priyanka Gill said, “It’s been a phenomenal journey. We've built a brand that millions of women love and engage with. Our platform allows them to connect with other women. It's a safe space where they can read, watch, shop and hangout. We focus on leveraging our large user base to generate transactions - beginning with affiliate ecommerce, across categories. This fundraise will help us deliver on the faith our audience, brand partners and investors have shown in POPxo.”

Vani Kola, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital said, “Young women in India are embracing the POPxo model that combines a digital community with content that empowers them. I am proud to see the progress made by the POPxo team as it has emerged as a leading company serving this market. Their new funding is a endorsement of the large opportunity to serve Indian women consumers.”

According to Karan Mohla, Partner - IDG Ventures India, "We are privileged to partner with a strong and international institutional investor base and an inspirational leader in Priyanka. Under her leadership, POPxo has become a dominant and enduring media brand and has created a platform for the largest and most engaged community of women in India."