Ecommerce Enabler GoKwik Acquires Chat Commerce Startup Tellephant

Ecommerce enabler GoKwik on Tuesday (June 6) said it has acquired chat commerce startup Tellephant for an undisclosed amount. 

GoKwik also launched its new WhatsApp-based ecommerce solution called KwikChat, powered by Tellephant’s tech stack. 

The acquisition will enable GoKwik to further scale and strengthen its operations while venturing into new areas. It will also enable GoKwik to tap into the burgeoning WhatsApp commerce arena and to provide deeper solutions for its D2C clients, the ecommerce enabler said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, Tellephant will leverage GoKwik’s resource base and synergies to further fuel its operations. It was not immediately clear if Tellephant’s founding team will continue to spearhead operations at the consolidated firm or exit the new entity. 

“Acquiring Tellephant is a step towards enabling deeper solutions for ecommerce brands and helping them further scale their business. With KwikChat, we aim to boost revenues for ecommerce brands straight out of WhatsApp which has become an increasingly important channel for brands to drive marketing automation campaigns as well as to ensure superior customer experience,” said GoKwik cofounder Chirag Taneja.

Chiming in, Tellephant’s cofounder Varun Kumar said, “GoKwik is deeply invested in enabling ecommerce, and fostering growth is a mission that we’ve been in sync with from the beginning. We eagerly anticipate the direction GoKwik will steer the Tellephant brand, and we’re confident it will significantly influence the landscape of e-commerce through WhatsApp.”

Commenting on its new offering KwikChat, GoKwik said that the product will offer a one-stop solution on Whatsapp catering to multiple use cases across the ecommerce funnel. This will enable its D2C clients to deploy conversational commerce over WhatsApp, thus, streamlining end-to-end user journey, driving conversions, increasing return on investments (RoI)  and fueling growth.

Founded in 2020 by Chirag Taneja, Vivek Bajpai and Ankush Talwar, GoKwik offers tech-backed checkout tools that enable ecommerce brands to boost conversion rates and drive revenue growth. 

Backed by marquee names such as Matrix India Partners, Sequoia Capital and Think Investments, the startup last raised a funding of $35 Mn in its Series B round led by Think Investments and RTP Global in May last year.

Prior to that, it also picked up a funding of INR 112 Cr in its Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India in November 2021.

On the other hand, Tellephant was founded in 2020 by Krishna Pinapatruni, Suhas Entur, and Varun Kapoor. The startup operates a conversation-as-a-service platform that has so far worked with 300 ecommerce brands to promote, sell, and offer support via WhatsApp.

Through Tellephant, GoKwik claims to have already generated more than 335 Mn conversations on WhatsApp for its clients. The company claims that D2C players such as FireBoltt, Pilgrim, Foxtale, Portronics, and 300 others have already embedded KwikChat in their offerings. 

GoKwik operates with the larger ecommerce SaaS market which has seen rapid growth in the past few years, driven largely by the pandemic boom and growing penetration of smartphone users. This has spurred D2C brands which, in turn, are driving the opportunity in the larger B2B ecosystem. 

As per a report by Kalaari Capital, the homegrown ecommerce SaaS market is projected to grow to a market opportunity of $15 Bn by 2025.