India’s GoKwik raised a small $13M spherical for a hefty leap in valuation

GoKwik, an Indian startup that gives a set of built-in e-commerce merchandise, has raised a small spherical of $13 million, which it calls a “growth” spherical, that has boosted its valuation to $450 million pre-money.

Whereas the brand new funding spherical, led by RTP International, is 63% smaller than its Collection B of $35 million, introduced in Could 2022, it has valued the New Delhi-based startup 43% greater than its final pre-money valuation of $315 million. The recent funding additionally included participation from the startup’s current traders, particularly Z47, Peak XV Companions, and Suppose Investments, bringing its complete fundraising to $68 million since its inception in 2020.

However what has made GoKwik so engaging to traders? Its choices assist corporations, huge and small, arrange store on-line and enter the direct-to-consumer (D2C) house.

The D2C house is anticipated to see a big improve over time as extra manufacturers poised to return on-line goal younger customers and the web reaches new houses. In India, the world’s second-largest web market after China and essentially the most populous nation, the D2C market is anticipated to succeed in $60 billion in worth by 2027, up from $12 billion in 2022, per a report (PDF) by KPMG.

Presently, GoKwik has greater than 12,000 paying retailers, up from 2,500 to three,000 a 12 months in the past, unfold over India, Europe, the U.Okay., and the U.S. These retailers use its SaaS merchandise that permit them to arrange their on-line shops powered by Shopify, Magento, Salesforce, and WooCommerce and allow checkout, on-line funds, and amenities to supply returns and cash-on-delivery choices. It additionally helps manufacturers to do commerce by way of WhatsApp, a preferred platform for companies and customers in markets like India, components of Europe, and Brazil.

GoKwik counts manufacturers like Indian eyewear large Lenskart, private care model Honasa Shopper, cosmetics firm Lakmé, London’s Pepe Denims, and Licester’s Xplosive Ape as clients.

A number of the merchandise that GoKwik affords are additionally out there by way of different gamers. For example, Razorpay and Cashfree Funds supply checkout options; CleverTap and MoEngage supply CRM.

However Chirag Taneja, co‑founder and CEO, instructed TechCrunch that GoKwik’s suite of merchandise is built-in so clients have a tendency to purchase a minimum of two of them on common. “If you use our login product, it helps you do retargeting better. Hence, our KwikEngage product emerges there, which is a WhatsApp commerce piece. Similarly, if you use our checkout product, the abandoned cart, for abandoned carts, you end up using our KwikEngage piece,” he mentioned.

This has helped GoKwik improve its annual recurring income (ARR) by 20% in simply three months, reaching over $30 million as of March, up from $25 million in December 2024. It has helped manufacturers course of a cumulative gross merchandise worth of $2 billion, with 55% of transactions involving pay as you go funds and 45% cash-on-delivery. Of all of the pay as you go funds, 80% are by way of the Indian authorities’s Unified Funds Interface.

With the recent funding, GoKwik goals to increase its presence and buyer base by getting into new markets and deepening its presence in areas the place WhatsApp has a big shopper base, akin to Germany, France, and Latin American nations, together with Brazil. The startup additionally plans to bolster AI’s presence on its merchandise. It already affords options akin to AI calling for deserted carts. Moreover, the startup plans to allow Indian retailers to promote their merchandise to overseas clients with a worldwide checkout answer that will combine Stripe and different worldwide cost processing providers.

GoKwik at present has a runway of 60 to 70 months, with near $35 million to $37 million within the financial institution, and is focusing on profitability throughout the subsequent 18 months. It additionally seems to be to go public throughout the subsequent 3 to five years. In the meantime, the startup is attracting investor curiosity, though Taneja confirmed to TechCrunch that it’s not at present elevating extra funds.

The startup has a headcount of round 400 folks, based in its workplaces in Gurugram and Bengaluru, with a handful of staff additionally based mostly within the U.Okay.