Amazon acquires Indian social commerce startup GlowRoad

E-commerce giant Amazon on Friday said that it has acquired homegrown women-focused social commerce startup GlowRoad for an undisclosed sum. In a statement, the company said the acquisition will help it meet the commitment to digitise 10 million local Indian businesses by 2025.

"Amazon continues to explore new ways to digitise India and delight customers, micro- entrepreneurs and sellers and bringing GlowRoad onboard is a key step in this direction," a company spokesperson told IANS. The acquisition comes at a time when the social commerce industry in India is booming, with players like Flipkart's social commerce platform arm Shopsy and Meesho.

Amazon said that with GlowRoad, it will help accelerate entrepreneurship among millions of creators, homemakers, students, and small sellers from across the country. "This acquisition will complement GlowRoad's already loved service with Amazon's technology, infrastructure, and digital payments capabilities, bringing more efficiency and cost-saving for everyone," said the company spokesperson.

GlowRoad recently raised nearly $32 million and has investors like Accel, Vertex Ventures and CHD Investments, among others.

The platform has over six million resellers and is present in more than 2,000 cities. A recent Accenture report said that as the global social commerce market is set to reach $1.2 trillion by 2025, India will be one of the fastest growing markets in the space.

The report said that India's social commerce market is expected to grow at a 59 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach $17 billion in gross merchandise value by 2025.