Offline discovery and rewards platform Magicpin has raised USD 60 million in Series D funding led by Zomato with participation from existing investors including Lightspeed Ventures.

Share Market Live

NSE

The funding announcement comes days after MoneyControl reported that Zomato, flush with cash following the IPO, is looking to model itself on its earliest investor Info Edge and make investments to the tune of USD 50-100 million in at least 15-20 consumer internet startups in India.

Magicpin was among the companies reported to be in line to get an investment from the foodtech giant. In fact, Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal had joined the company’s board as an independent director in July.

Now, Magicpin’s total fundraise since inception is expected to have topped USD 100 million. The valuation at which the funds were raised in this round is unknown at the moment.

However, earlier in August, the Gurgaon-based startup had secured an investment of USD 3 million at an estimated valuation of USD 165 million in a round led by OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal along with Lightspeed, The Bunting Family and Moonstone.

Founded in 2015 by Anshoo Sharma and Brij Bhushan, the Zomato-like Magicpin drives discovery which leads to more business for local retailers across categories like restaurants, fashion, beauty, grocery, spa, gyms, and more.

Lightspeed’s Bejul Somaia describes the startup as a business at the intersection of commerce, loyalty and payments.

For visiting and spending at Magicpin’s partner retailers and brands, users get rewarded in magicPoints that can be redeemed during future outings or online orderings.

The platform also functions like a short-form video app that allows users to follow the buzz in their locality through user-generated pictures, videos, and reviews.

“What Zomato did with restaurants, Magicpin is doing for the entire offline shopping experience. Magicpin is one of the most important players in the nascent hyperlocal e-commerce space (both offline and online) – and we expect Magicpin to create a tremendous amount of value for its merchant partners as well as customers going forward,” said Deepinder Goyal, founder, Zomato.

Currently, the platform has 6 million active users and 170,000 paying merchants across 50 cities in India.

The pandemic, however, nearly pulled the pin out of the business as the startup was earlier primarily geared towards offline retailers. As lockdowns kept customers at home, Magicpin pivoted to online. It started offering a SaaS-like service, which allowed offline merchants to open an online store. Then, it tied up with multiple third-party delivery partners to fulfil online orders.

“Local retail is the lifeblood of our country. Magicpin is helping drive omni-channel growth for local retail and enabling them to leverage the fast growing digital world. We are excited about welcoming Zomato into the company - this round puts us in a position to own and transform the offline shopping experience across India,” said Anshoo Sharma, Co-Founder & CEO, Magicpin.

Magicpin will use the fresh funds to deepen presence in existing markets, launch new markets and expand across categories. Currently, the startup claims to be clocking over USD 1 billion in annual gross merchandise value (GMV).

(Edited by : Priyanka Deshpande)

First Published:Nov 10, 2021 9:01 PM IST