18M Series A To Build On Its Real-time Shopping App⁘s Success

More details: See here

Live-shopping has grown into a massive sector in Asia, but the phenomenon is yet to see similar uptake in Western markets. But two tech founders are hoping the growth-hacking skills they learned at Revolt will power up their startup in the U.K. live-shopping arena, and now they have the confidence of major investors.

That confidence is coming as an $18 million Series A funding round, led by Balderton Capital, for U.K.-based live-shopping startup Tilt . And it seems to be backed up by decent traction: The company claims to have garnered more than half-a-million users since it was launched early last year.

Founded by two early ex-Revolut employees, Neil Shah and Abhi Thanendran, Tilt says its success has been the result of its focus on live sales of fashion items.

Live e-commerce sales have become a phenomenon because of the addictive nature of watching someone sell in real-time, creating the appearance (at least) of an authentic and fun environment. This contrasts with the traditional online shopping experience, which can feel static, by comparison, and indeed is.

Livestreamed e-commerce shopping in China is expected to grow 25% to $703.27 billion this year. Indeed, McKinsey predicts that 10% to 20% of all e-commerce will take the form of livestreamed shopping by 2026. And it's estimated half of China's internet users participated in a live-selling event last year.

However, in the U.S., only around 35% of respondents to a survey said they'd purchased something from a livestreamed event — and in the U.K. that figure is even worse, at only 25%.

Over a call, Tilt's CEO and co-founder, Thanendran, told TechCrunch that while there have been attempts to copy-paste live-shopping apps from China in the West, most have not taken off. ⁘The more important thing is finding the right market to create that experience,⁘ he said.

⁘You have to think about who's the right age group or niche of consumers. Our approach has been to target Gen Z. They're very used to these unique apps and experiences from online gaming and watching Twitch streams. We've chosen to go with fashion, and I think we've cracked the code here,⁘ he added.