[Funding alert] Social commerce startup Trell raises $45M Series B round led by Mirae Asset, H&M, others

Social commerce platform Trell on Monday said it raised $45 million in a Series B round led by Mirae Asset, H&M Group, and co-led by LB Investments.

Existing investors, along with KTB Network, Samsung Ventures, and Fosun RZ Capital also participated in this round.

With this round, Trell has raised a total funding of $62 million to date.

The startup will use the capital to further develop its AI and ML technologies across regional languages, strengthen its team, and grow its community and commerce initiatives.

Pulkit Agrawal, Co-founder and CEO, Trell, said, “Trell has enabled millions of Indian language internet users to discover and buy lifestyle trends, and we are grateful to have a community that has shown us incredible support, which has further fueled our need to diversify content creation, commerce in India, and create sustainable opportunities for wealth creation and economic growth.” 

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Trell provides a platform for millions of Indians to connect with like-minded individuals, discover lifestyle trends, and share content around their interests and passions across categories, including beauty, fashion, wellness, health, food, TV reviews, travel, and gadgets, among others.

The startup's vast content library features videos in eight regional languages, garnering over 20 billion monthly views. It claims to have more than 100 million downloads and over 50 million monthly active users on its app,

By the end of 2021, the social commerce platform is looking to launch six more languages, expanding its footprint to over 2,000 cities and towns in India.

Nanna Anderson, Head of H&M CO:LAB, H&M Group’s Investment arm, said, “Trell has shown impressive growth over the years, and we believe that it has the potential to become a global leader in this space. We are excited to be a part of their journey, supporting the founders and the team in their vision.”

In August 2020, Trell launched its social commerce section on the app, enabling users to watch personalised product recommendations across beauty, personal care, and wellness categories, which they can buy from within the app. 

The startup has also recorded 10X-15X yearly growth and 30 percent monthly growth on its transactions.

With the new addition of funds, it is also looking to expand its commerce operations by entering into the apparel, home care, and mom and baby-care categories in the months to come. 

Ashish Dave, Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, said, “Trell’s roadmap and vision of empowering millions of Indian’s to become micro-entrepreneurs have really resonated with us, and we are glad to see the love that the platform has witnessed this past year. The team has an in-depth understanding of the diversity across the country, which is the need of the hour. We believe the impact of the platform in the social commerce ecosystem is going to revolutionise the way people connect and consume content online, thereby helping them make more informed lifestyle choices and purchase decisions.”