Yalo, a conversational commerce platform, on Wednesday said it has raised USD 50 million (about Rs 363.8 crore) in funding led by existing venture investor, B Capital Group. Yalo, which was previously known as Yalochat, said the total capital raised by the company (including the latest series C round) stands at USD 75 million. Yalo enables large enterprises like Unilever, Nestle, Coca-Cola, and Walmart to communicate and transact directly with consumers through messaging apps like WhatsApp. Yalo has operations in the US, Mexico, Brazil, and India.
The funds will be used to deepen the company’s presence in Latin America and Southeast Asia, and to fund the development of new product offerings, including conversational marketing and payments solutions, a statement said. Conversational commerce allows businesses to sell products in a personalised way through messaging apps by bridging the proximity of the physical world with the convenience of digital commerce. The company cited data from a BCG report to state that conversational commerce is already a USD 35 billion market with the potential to reach USD 130 billion by 2025 in emerging markets.
“For a long time enterprise digital transformation has been synonymous with complexity; not anymore. Conversational commerce is a simple technology solution that enables brands to meet end-users where they already are — in their favorite mobile communication channels,” Javier Mata, founder, and chief executive officer of Yalo, said. The financing will be used to fund the development of new conversational commerce products and add further value for global customers by enabling them to retain their customer relationships and compete with e-commerce giants, Mata added. Yalo has an office in Bengaluru and a third of its userbase is in India.
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