Delhi based e-commerce startup EkAnek Networks has raised around 5.4 million USD (40 crore rupees) in its Series A1 funding round, led by Abu Dhabi based Alpha Wave Incubation.
EkAnek’s existing investors Sequoia Capital India, Matrix Partners India, and Lightspeed India also participated in the funding round, but it was Alpha Wave Incubation, a 300 million USD fund managed by Falcon Edge Capital, that took the charge of this round for this new-age ecommerce company.
The company had previously raised around 10 million USD in March last year, through a funding round led by Sequoia, Matrix Partners India, and Lightspeed.
EkAnek Networks, a startup with the goal of “one platform many applications,” was founded by IIM Ahmedabad graduate Kartik Seth, IIT Kharagpur graduate Chandranshu and IIT Delhi, graduate Sachin Singhal in 2018, who also own a beauty grooming platform named Foxy. The platform offers a tailor-made shopping experience to its users incorporating selfie analysis and pinpoint product curation, and has been described by the company as “an artist led commerce platform for beauty, grooming and personal care.” This makes it easier for brands to reach and sell to the consumer directly, the platform also aims to empower product-influencers, and its services include logistics and marketing tools.
The company aims to expand its operations to the UAE with the funds raised during this funding round, and an alliance with Alpha Wave Incubation could very well prove to be an asset to the cause.
A spokesperson from Falcon Edge Capital has expressed the company’s delight in securing the partnership deal with EkAnek Networks by saying, “We are delighted to partner with EkAnek. Foxy will offer mobile-first consumers a differentiated approach to supply, curation and fulfilment of beauty products. In addition, EkAnek’s unique B2B2C full-stack offering will drive tighter brand relationships with the platforms and consumers, to offer consumers globally an unrivalled experience of beauty products.”
EkAnek’s business to consumer services would strengthen customer relationships with the partnering brands, and Foxy’s different approach to the fulfillment of consumer demand as a mobile-first system would prove a strong point in the expansion of the organization.
