Instamojo onboards 2 lakh subscriptions for its new ecommerce platform

The race for digitisation of small businesses is hotting up and it is just as well. Eighteen months into the pandemic has shown businesses that digital-first is the only winning strategy in this new normal.

A recent report released by the Consortium of Indian Association found that 73 percent of SMBs surveyed had not made any profit last year. Another report by Dun & Bradstreet showed that more than 82 percent of small businesses have been negatively impacted by COVID-19.

Today there’s no dearth of digital services and products in the market for the 63 million-plus micro, small, and medium businesses (MSMEs) in India. From enterprise tech companies to startups — all have specific solutions available to speed up their digital transformation.

For SMB enablers like Instamojo, which had launched its ecommerce platform to empower D2C brands to launch their independent online stores, the new normal has presented more opportunities to launch new digital product suites.

Since it launched its ecommerce services in February this year, the startup has recorded 2 lakh subscriptions and aims to onboard more than 250,000 small businesses by the end of FY22. Of these new subscriptions, most have come from businesses based out of Pune, followed by Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.

While 18 percent of the ecommerce sellers are from Pune, among the non-metro towns, Lucknow leads the way, followed by Jaipur and Ahmedabad. According to the startup, the top ecommerce categories included fashion, art, and food.

At present, Instamojo has a merchant base of more than two million small business owners. Its new ecommerce platform offers merchants tools to build and manage their own business website, along with other integrated services, including digital payments, logistics, instant pay-outs, access to credit, marketing tools, and CRM.

In a statement, CEO and Co-founder of Instamojo Sampad Swain said, “In a post-pandemic world, the D2C model can be an effective solution to catalyse recovery of businesses. Small business owners were very receptive to the online store model, an indicator that the sector is evolving towards a digital future.”

Founded in 2012 by Akash Gehani, Harshad Sharma, and Sampad Swain to help small businesses manage digital payments, Instamojo has expanded its digital products to include logistics, credit services, a free learning platform called mojoversity, and more.

Early last year, the company acquired GetMeAShop (GMAS), an ecommerce enablement firm backed by Times Internet.

In 2020, Instamojo closed an undisclosed amount as its pre-Series C round of funding from Gunosy Capital and Japan-based Base. The company has so far raised $8.4 million in funding.

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