ETtechMUMBAI: Influencer-led social commerce platform Trell has raised $45 million in a Series B funding round from Mirae Asset, H&M Group and LB Investments at a post-money valuation of $120 million.
Existing backers along with KTB Network, Samsung Ventures, and Fosun RZ Capital have also participated in the funding round which saw some early-stage investors sell stock worth $5 million.
So far, the startup has raised more than $62 million, including the latest round.
The company launched its social commerce model in August last year. The platform sells lifestyle products and its major customer base is in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Pulkit Agrawal, Trell’s cofounder said that the company has fulfilled 1 million orders at an average order value between Rs 750-800.
It charges a commission of 20-25% per order and Agrawal said that they are also experimenting with advertising.
Trell will use the fresh infusion to strengthen its technology capabilities in regional languages, strengthen its supply chain, invest in influencer training, and expand its team from 400 to 1,000 people in the next 12 months.
“We got oversubscribed by almost 4x right than what we initially intended,” Agrawal told ET. “We are scaling up very rapidly as compared to anybody else. So that is something which excites a lot of investors.”
Agrawal said 18 million creators have built content for Trell that reaches over 50 million monthly active users. Other social commerce platforms in the reseller domain like Meesho utilise Whatsapp for sales.
Trell on the other hand is building a video commerce platform where a customer purchase products based on video content generated by content creators.
The platform is focused on influencer monetisation and has so far trained 5,000 through its masterclass and grooming programme. Depending on the category, influencers on Trell can make anywhere from Rs 15,000-2 lakh a month, Agrawal said.
Commenting on the fundraise Ashish Dave, CEO, Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, said, “Trell’s roadmap and vision of empowering millions of Indian’s to become micro-entrepreneurs has really resonated with us and we are glad to see the love that the platform has witnessed this past year. "
According to a RedSeer report, social commerce players are seeing the most growth from tier 2 cities. From CY 2020 $38 billion e-commerce industry, it is estimated that the entire e-commerce industry will grow up to $140 billion by CY2025 and major social commerce players will contribute at least upto 5% by then.
In the last few weeks, group buying social commerce platforms like DealShare and CityMall have raised $144 million and $22.5 million respectively.
Currently, Trell sells products in beauty, fashion, wellness and plans to expand into apparel, home care, mom and baby-care in the near future.
Existing backers along with KTB Network, Samsung Ventures, and Fosun RZ Capital have also participated in the funding round which saw some early-stage investors sell stock worth $5 million.
So far, the startup has raised more than $62 million, including the latest round.
The company launched its social commerce model in August last year. The platform sells lifestyle products and its major customer base is in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Pulkit Agrawal, Trell’s cofounder said that the company has fulfilled 1 million orders at an average order value between Rs 750-800.
It charges a commission of 20-25% per order and Agrawal said that they are also experimenting with advertising.
Trell will use the fresh infusion to strengthen its technology capabilities in regional languages, strengthen its supply chain, invest in influencer training, and expand its team from 400 to 1,000 people in the next 12 months.
“We got oversubscribed by almost 4x right than what we initially intended,” Agrawal told ET. “We are scaling up very rapidly as compared to anybody else. So that is something which excites a lot of investors.”
Agrawal said 18 million creators have built content for Trell that reaches over 50 million monthly active users. Other social commerce platforms in the reseller domain like Meesho utilise Whatsapp for sales.
Trell on the other hand is building a video commerce platform where a customer purchase products based on video content generated by content creators.
The platform is focused on influencer monetisation and has so far trained 5,000 through its masterclass and grooming programme. Depending on the category, influencers on Trell can make anywhere from Rs 15,000-2 lakh a month, Agrawal said.
Commenting on the fundraise Ashish Dave, CEO, Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, said, “Trell’s roadmap and vision of empowering millions of Indian’s to become micro-entrepreneurs has really resonated with us and we are glad to see the love that the platform has witnessed this past year. "
According to a RedSeer report, social commerce players are seeing the most growth from tier 2 cities. From CY 2020 $38 billion e-commerce industry, it is estimated that the entire e-commerce industry will grow up to $140 billion by CY2025 and major social commerce players will contribute at least upto 5% by then.
In the last few weeks, group buying social commerce platforms like DealShare and CityMall have raised $144 million and $22.5 million respectively.
Currently, Trell sells products in beauty, fashion, wellness and plans to expand into apparel, home care, mom and baby-care in the near future.