New Delhi/Gurugram, 10 October 2023: Oyela, a collaborative commerce platform making the next generation ready for entrepreneurship, has secured INR 144 million in the Seed funding round led by Prime Venture Partners.
Founded in 2021 by two IIT Bombay alumni – Rahul Gope and Anjan Kumar Patel, Oyela empowers emerging socially savvy businesses, product creators, and artists to sell to their audience and grow their business. Through Oyela, businesses can easily set up and manage their digital storefronts. Oyela empowers sellers to grow their businesses by – providing them with tools to collaborate with each other for better reach, streamline their operations, and Instagram Automation to secure more sales by harnessing their social reach. Over time, it will also help them in building their supply chain. In other words, Oyela transforms its Social Media like Instagram into a hyper sales channel.
Social commerce is rapidly growing in India. According to a report by Bain & Company, the social commerce sector in India is set to become a $20 billion market by 2025. It’s expected to be driven by an increasing number of small and medium businesses turning to social media channels for sales.
For Millennials and GenZs, starting a business online has become second nature. They are starting their own businesses on platforms like Instagram, selling products like clothing, digital gadgets, home decor, and handmade jewelry. As per a Deloitte survey, 63% of Millennials and GenZs aspire to start something of their own, build an identity, and become financially independent. However, social media platforms are not originally designed for commercial purposes, thus, presenting a barrier.. Although these businesses start with big aspirations, many of them shut down due to a lack of discovery, operational barriers, and support. This is where Oyela steps in – harnessing the power of collaborations and the store’s social reach to boost their sales.
Last year, the company secured INR 41 million in pre-seed funding from a consortium of investors that included Good Capital, Upsparks Capital, and Eximius Ventures. With this new infusion of capital from Prime Venture Partners, Oyela plans to (1) bolster its e-commerce tech, (2) build conversational commerce engines to empower selling on Pinterest, YouTube, Threads and (3) streamline the supply chain to empower aspirational GenZs to start and grow their own Instagram stores. In the next 5 years, Oyela aims to power 2 million social stores, thus making up for 1.6% of the e-commerce market and 9.5% of the social commerce market in India
“The inspiration behind Oyela is deeply personal. Hailing from the Andaman Islands, I once ran an online pearl boutique. Ultimately, my venture died down due to a lack of discovery and operational barriers. Seeing the explosion of creative entrepreneurship in India, I recognised that these challenges could resonate with aspiring entrepreneurs. Oyela was born from this vision, aiming to provide others with the tools and opportunities I wish I had during my entrepreneurial journey,” said Rahul Gope, Co-founder & CEO, of Oyela. “We are thrilled to welcome Prime Venture Partners as our newest partner in this exciting journey. The new funds will allow us to further enhance our platform and help us achieve our dream of empowering 2 million social stores in the next 5 years.”
Speaking about the investment, Amit Somani, Managing Partner, Prime Venture Partners, said, “The GenZ population are e-commerce natives and are also open to experimenting with fashion. Currently, there are more than 200M businesses/sellers on Instagram globally. The next 10 years of e-commerce growth will have a meaningful contribution from these Gen Z sellers. Oyela provides solutions to streamline and automate their social-media-led commerce business. We are impressed by the team at Oyela and we believe they are on the brink of transforming the social commerce landscape in India. The team has shown remarkable insight in recognising the challenges faced by Instagram sellers and offering a solution that not only solves these issues but opens up new avenues for growth. This is an exciting time in the social commerce sector, and we believe Oyela is perfectly positioned to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead.”