GoKwik Raises $13M for D2C Expansion in India and Beyond: Boosting Valuation to $450M

GoKwik, an Indian e-commerce startup, has raised a growth round of $13 million, boosting its valuation to $450 million pre-money. The funding round, led by RTP Global, is 63% smaller than its Series B round of $35 million in May 2022, but it has valued the New Delhi-based startup 43% more than its last pre-money valuation of $315 million. The fresh funding also included participation from the startup's existing investors, Z47, Peak XV Partners, and Think Investments, bringing its total fundraising to $68 million since its inception in 2020. So what has made GoKwik so attractive to investors? Its offerings help companies, big and small, set up shop online and enter the direct-to-consumer (D2C) space. The D2C space is expected to see a significant increase over time as more brands poised to come online target young consumers and the internet reaches new homes. In India, the world's second-largest internet market after China and the most populous country, the D2C market is expected to reach $60 billion in value by 2027, up from $12 billion in 2022, according to a report by KPMG. Currently, GoKwik has more than 12,000 paying merchants, up from 2,500 to 3,000 a year ago, spread over India, Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. These merchants use its SaaS products that allow them to set up their online stores powered by Shopify, Magento, Salesforce, and WooCommerce and enable checkout, online payments, and facilities to offer returns and cash-on-delivery options. It also helps brands to do commerce via WhatsApp, a popular platform for businesses and consumers in markets like India, parts of Europe, and Brazil. GoKwik counts brands like Indian eyewear giant Lenskart, personal care brand Honasa Consumer, cosmetics company Lakmé, London's Pepe Jeans, and Licester's Xplosive Ape as customers. Some of the products that GoKwik offers are also available through other players. For instance, Razorpay and Cashfree Payments offer checkout solutions; CleverTap and MoEngage offer CRM. But GoKwik's suite of products is integrated so customers tend to buy at least two of them on average. This has helped GoKwik increase its annual recurring revenue (ARR) by 20% in just three months, reaching over $30 million as of March, up from $25 million in December 2024. It has helped brands process a cumulative gross merchandise value of $2 billion, with 55% of transactions involving prepaid payments and 45% cash-on-delivery. Of all the prepaid payments, 80% are via the Indian government's Unified Payments Interface. With the fresh funding, GoKwik aims to expand its presence and customer base by entering new markets and deepening its presence in areas where WhatsApp has a large consumer base, such as Germany, France, and Latin American countries, including Brazil. The startup also plans to bolster AI's presence on its products. It already offers solutions such as AI calling for abandoned carts. Furthermore, the startup plans to enable Indian merchants to sell their products to foreign customers with a global checkout solution that would integrate Stripe and other international payment processing services. GoKwik currently has a runway of 60 to 70 months, with close to $35 million to $37 million in the bank, and is targeting profitability within the next 18 months. It also looks to go public within the next 3 to 5 years.