Tiger Global Partners backs SleekFlow in $8M funding – TechCrunch

Social commerce — the process of buying and selling products or services directly through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok — is becoming the most natural way for consumers to make purchases since people use social media and messaging apps almost every day.

SleekFlowTiger Global Management led the $8 million Series-A funding for omnichannel social shopping platform. Transcend Capital and AEF Greater Bay Area Fund were also part of the round, which was managed by Gobi Partners GBA.

“Consumers now spend 80 percent of their time on social platforms, and it is already a habit to discover and buy products directly from here,” saidSleekFlow CEO and founder Henson Tsai. “SleekFlow aims to drive this e-commerce revolution by being the top social commerce unified hub — merging conversations, product catalogs, payment solutions, and order management into one for businesses.”

Image Credits SleekFlow

SleekFlow was established in 2019 and now serves over 5,000 businesses around the world, including Bossini Cosmetics (NARS Cosmetics), Lalamove Hong Kong (Lalamove Hong Kong), and PSB Academy. After its recent pre-Series A funding, backed by Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund in May 2021, the company claims it experienced approximately 500% revenue growth. (SleekFlow was not able to provide a baseline for that growth.

The startup, based in Hong Kong, will use the new capital to expand its market penetration in Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia and Singapore, as well as the U.K., and other European countries. In addition, the latest funding will enable SleekFlow to enhance its product development with fintech and data analytics functions, one-click checkouts via social media platforms, and easy in-chat payment integrations for online to offline (O2O) and e-commerce brands’ seamless workflow.

The startup recently launched a fintech service. social-to-paymentThe feature is designed to offer a complete solution for both ecommerce and brick-and mortar businesses. Southeast Asia alone has over 200,000 e-commerce businesses. about 90% of digital merchants use digital paymentsAccording to the company, profitability and survival are key factors. The chat-to checkout tool is also important in driving sales and conversions via various digital sales channels. SleekFlow has also introduced new sales and analytics and customer services performance tracking. This allows users to track and analyze consumer profiles and behavior for personalized communications. its partnership with Shopify last November.

The global market for social commerce is expected to grow. $6.2 trillionBy 2030

According to the company one in five dollars of retail spending in Southeast Asia comes from social media. And more consumers are doing so. looking to businesses offering convenient communications. SleekFlow integrates multiple messaging platforms such as Official WhatsApp Business API (Facebook Messenger), Instagram chat, SMS, Telegram, and Instagram Messenger to address the challenges of managing multiple social media and messaging platforms.

“Despite the economic downturn, the social commerce market is going stronger than ever, reaching $474 billion in 2021,” Chibo Tang, managing partner of Gobi Partners GBA saidIn a statement. “Eight in 10 U.S. businesses anticipate increased sales via social media within the next three years. SleekFlow’s innovative solutions will help these global commerce businesses meet the evolving needs of customers who are turning to social channels to purchase more than ever before.”

Slack now boasts 60 members in Hong Kong.