Social commerce startup Stage3’s bet on tech, growth strategy

Creator-powered social commerce platform for fashion and lifestyle, Stage3’s recent fundraise of Rs 20 crore will be invested in technology and in expanding the startup’s data capabilities. 

Stage3 is a full-stack social commerce platform with a diverse range of brands, boutiques, and small enterprises under its umbrella. The Delhi-based startup was established in 2016 to cater to the fashion needs of GenZ and millennials through a rental business model. 

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According to Sanchit Baweja, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Stage3, the startup has grown 200 percent year-on-year and has added over 3,000 brands to the platform. The boom in the creator’s economy has played a key role in the company’s growth trajectory and it now has over 1,000 creators actively creating content on it.

Following the pandemic, the company says it recognised the enormous potential in social commerce and built its influencer-driven app. The app was launched in October 2021. 

Stage 3 says the app provides customers with a personalised shopping experience. 

Speaking on the design of the platform, Sanchit says that the structure is very similar to Instagram, with the exception that everything seen on Stage3 is available for purchase. All the posts, videos and reels link back to products that users can buy.

The company aspires to establish a substantial digital presence in the coming years. It aims to collaborate with big influencers, prominent creators and known opinion leaders to add to the extensive network that it has already been creating.

Sanchit argues that creators are altering the way advertising has been done in the past.

“Creators, influencers, key opinion leaders have, in a way, become the billboard for the product you’re advertising,” he says.

According to the co-founder, the company plans to triple its growth by FY23 and reach $100 million in revenue over the next five years