Swirl video shopping platform raises new cash

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Oct 8, 2021

Live video shopping software as a service (SaaS) platform Swirl has raised $250,000 in a pre-seed funding round.

Led by global strategic investors and angels based in the US, Singapore, Middle-East and Europe, the funding will support UK-based Swirl’s bid “to make e-commerce more engaging and human by bringing the in-store shopping experience online”.

It’s a reflection of the rapid acceleration being seen in video shopping tech of late as more retailers switch on to the channel after seeing its effectiveness during the pandemic.

The company said quarterly revenues have increased 300% this year and it will soon begin to raise an institutional round for ramping up its growth to expand to multiple categories beyond e-commerce. It also aims to officially enter the US and European markets by early 2022, with a goal “to become one of the top five businesses in the experiential technology sector”. 

The fundraise will be used to support the company's growth “to optimise its multi-cloud video commerce technology platform” that enables retailers to use in-store associates to provide an immersive video shopping experience for a global audience. 

Kaizad Hansotia, founder and CEO of Swirl, said: “Wherever the end consumer is involved, live commerce will play a major role in enabling sales by bridging the online-offline divide”.

She added that her company “aims to empower brands globally with experiential technology to engage more customers, shorten their purchase journey and accelerate online sales… helping both D2C brands and Retail enterprises to directly engage, convert and retain more customers using real-time virtual shopping”.

Swirl’s current client brands including Unlimited Fashion by Arvind, Finnish fashion brand Ivana Helsinki and jewellers Giva and Zariin.