Delhi based social commerce startup, Stage3 has said, “It has raised Rs 20 crore in pre-Series A round funding co-led by Inflection Point Ventures, and LC Nueva Investment Partners LLP, along with LetsVentures and Stanford Angels.
The round also saw the participation from its existing investors and angel investors including Blume Ventures (existing investors), Ananth Narayanan (Founder, Mensa Brands), Dinesh Aggarwal (CEO of IndiaMart), and Sashwat Nakhrani, (Cofounder of Bharat Pe).
“The funds raised will be utilized in improving technology infrastructure, hiring talent, and building data science capabilities,” the statement said.
Stage3 is powering the creator economy in fashion and lifestyle while providing a personalized engaging social shopping experience for India’s GenZs and millennials.
Speaking on the funding in Stage3 Ankur Mittal, Co-Founder of IPV said, “Stage3 demonstrated to our network that merging the best of both worlds – marrying e-commerce to influencer-driven social interactions can become a thriving business idea, and this got us interested in their business. Indian consumers are already moving to online shopping in an accelerated manner and as technology helps e-commerce companies to extend offline experience elements, the next big disruption in the e-commerce value chain will be driven by social commerce and user-generated recommendations.”
Commenting on the fundraise, Sabena Puri, Co-Founder & CEO, Stage3 said, “Our Vision at Stage3 is to build the next generation of fashion commerce for young India that is social, personalized and influencer led. Our AI-powered app will dramatically change how consumers shop by building a hyper-personalized feed reflecting their interests, personal style, size, and brand preferences In addition they will be able to share their wishlist, group shop with friends, and directly connect with sellers”.
“We at Stage3 are very excited to be at the forefront of building the first of its kind social marketplace in India and tap into the $100B market opportunity for fashion growing to be $185B in 5 years,” Sanchit Baweja, Chief Business Officer & Co-Founder, Stage3 added.
Investments into Stage3 are warehoused in the name of LC Nueva AIF (“Fund”), a Category II Alternative Investment Fund, where LC Nueva Investment Partners LLP is the Investment Manager. LC Investment Partners LLP is being rebranded to LC Nueva Investment Partners LLP. The rebranded entity and the Fund are awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).