Cococart, a Singapore-based e-commerce startup, announced Tuesday that it has secured $4.2 million in seed funding to expand its growth internationally.
The new capital was raised from Forerunner Ventures and Sequoia Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, Uncommon Capital, Soma Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, Fitbit Chief Executive Officer James Park, Curated Chief Executive Officer Eduardo Vivas, and other strategic angel investors, Cococart said in a statement.
The new funding raised will be used to grow the team, accelerate product development, and expand to other countries.
“At Forerunner, we believe the next revolution in commerce will be driven by empowered sellers. Cococart embodies this shift by enabling small businesses to easily manage online ordering and unlock new growth. E-commerce tools like Cococart stand to enable a growing generation of companies to compete and scale more efficiently, said Kirsten Green, Founder and Managing Partner at Forerunner.
Founded in 2020, Cococart currently has merchants present in over 90 countries. The company aims to transform local businesses and enable new ways of selling online. Merchants can set up their storefront in minutes with no code, no design, and no app downloads.
Most local businesses are still taking orders on WhatsApp and managing their orders using spreadsheets—but with Cococart, they can set up a website with no learning curve. The store comes with everything from inventory management to mobile payment solutions. The platform helps automate the logistical headache of order management and lets businesses focus on growing their sales and delighting their customers.
Since its launch, Cococart has grown to support over 20,000 businesses in more than 90 countries, taking in over 500,000 orders, and merchants have earned over $15 million.
In 2021, the company grew its merchant count by 3000 percent and customer base by 4600 percent, according to its Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Derek Low. In that same time, the company grew their team from 2 founders to 22 people across 12 countries.
“We’re just getting started. There are still so many challenges in starting and running a business that we want to solve, from deliveries to supply chain to financing. We see a massive opportunity in front of us and we want to bring Cococart to 200 million businesses worldwide. Our goal is to define the next generation of commerce,” said Low.