A shoppable video startup gets $1.1M in seed funding

Founded in 2016 in India by Bhejash Joshi and Kaizad Hansotia, Swirl has secured $1.1M to expand to the US and UAE, while also making its AI integrations much better. The funding round was led by Shastra VC and other angel investors.

Making shopping fun with video

Swirl is a startup that can turn video watchers into shoppers. They offer things like:

• Making brand connections more authentic by turning reviews into UGC videos

• Livestream shopping that acts like a sales call that’s more fun and viral

• Shoppable videos that turn Reels and TikToks into a shopping experience

• One-on-One consulting calls with an assistant to help you shop

They already have big name clients like Puma, Homesrus, Momstore, VIVO, and more and has gained validation from global brands across India, the Middle East, and Europe.

Addressing the hard part for brands

Swirl wants to address low engagement, sales and reach faced by brands in the market. According to Technode, Swirl is able to:

• Increase ecommerce conversions by 3x

• Average of 13x ROI

• Have a 35% engagement rate

Innovation vs the world

For its new tech innovation, Swirl will help boost SEO by bringing in new visitors organically through better metadata. Swirl will also use video details to teach a 24/7 chatbot within the to offering product suggestions and upsells.

It’s going to face some stiff competition, especially with the strength of social commerce today. TikTok is testing a feature where “find similar items on TikTok Shop” could appear on every object in a video.