KIKO TV bags $300,000 funding, plans massive expansion

Mumbai: KIKO TV, India’s first AI-based short live video e-commerce platform, has received $300,000 funding from 9point8, Sunil Kumar Singhvi and other well-known HNIs.

KIKO TV, launched by Smooth Tag Technologies, is an interactive entertainment video-based app that allows users to view, like, share videos, and earn currency to shop within the app, while seamlessly enjoying their content. It also allows users to become influencers and live stream on the app by adding brands to sell instantly.

Available on both Android and iOS, the app has crossed 100k downloads, with a daily increase in the active users by 12%. It has signed up more than 50 merchants on the app and grossed annualized GMV of Rs.3.5 crores within a month of launch.

Currently, KIKO TV offers more than 75,000 videos of different genres like comedy, workout, travel, food, educational, fashion & makeup, and product reviews. With the onset of the festive season and market sentiments looking positive, the app has witnessed a meteoric rise in their in-app purchases.

Market research shows that e-commerce surged by as much as 53% from small towns in India and this growth is expected to be primarily driven by Social Commerce.

With the Indian e-commerce industry and short format video industry expected to grow at CAGR 35% and CAGR 40% respectively, the entrance of KIKO TV makes it an interesting and viable market player, amidst the current situation.

Sunil Kumar Singhvi, Investor in KIKO TV said, “Social Commerce is the next generation trend that is reshaping the future of retail and commerce industry. Social commerce influences millennials’ purchase decisions and their shopping journey. KIKO TV enables content creation and social commerce which will fuel the fast-growing influencers’ profession. KIKO TV will be the future of marketing, branding and sales channels for many online retailers”.

Neeta, CSO of KIKO TV said, “We are glad to see a positive response towards our app in India. The idea behind launching this app was to provide entertainment and shopping experience to our users on their fingertips. With new technology evolving and being brought in our country, the current market space is exciting for tech start-ups like ours. We wanted to make a platform worthy of good content and seller-buyer relationship a little less complicated with this venture of ours and the initial response towards it has motivated us in our initiative.”

“In the coming weeks, we aim to onboard a wide network of Indian content creators and e-commerce players and to build KIKO TV as a one-stop destination for short video content and e-commerce. With the festive season onboard the users-buyer relationship on KIKO TV will only get more exciting with amazing offers and discounts to look out for,” the company said.

KIKO TV uses AI technology which helps to detect pornography, weapons, cyber abuse, and crime scene to block/remove the video from the platform, thereby maintaining a more safe and comfortable streaming experience for the users and focusing on our goal to working towards a more secure platform of all.

Live bidding, live shopping, and interaction and video engagement will be the key areas for KIKO TV to be focused on in the upcoming weeks. KIKO TV is planning simultaneous launches in Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines by early October.