It is common knowledge that India’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) contribute close to 30% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
That’s 63 million MSMEs and counting. We also saw a plethora of small businesses sprouting amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Be it through retails or ecommerce marketplaces, MSMEs are catering to customers’ various needs in India and abroad.
“These brands, among other small businesses, have a massive opportunity to sell their products to the world, and that’s where we come in,” Navin Mistry, Co-founder of GoGlocal tells YourStory.
Founded in 2020, with operations commencing in October 2022, GoGlocal is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that offers logistics, payments, finances, compliances, and strategic support, among other services, to MSMEs in India.
“We are building an all-inclusive platform where we have connected all the dots and offer a holistic approach to global selling,” says Mistry.
Since 2001, Mistry, the former director of cross-border sales at eBay India, was helping manufacturers sell their made-in-India products globally. Until recently, the XLRI graduate also served as the former director of growth at PayPal India.
With Anirudh Bhagchandka as a co-founder—a former trade policy consultant—Mistry started his second venture, GoGlocal, to help MSMEs discover potential markets, manage global fulfilment, attract international customers, and adhere to global compliances, among other things.
“When a seller is expanding in multiple countries across a few product categories, there are many moving parts of a big puzzle,” he says. The company works with brands, almost hand-holding them through processes, including connecting to marketplaces, billing, last-mile delivery, and local compliances.
GoGlocal offers these services through global checkout—a plug-in integrated into a business’s website that would provide a uniform checkout for global customers—and seller central, which enables businesses to discover and enter new markets.
While ecommerce marketplaces, including Amazon and Flipkart, have global selling portals, Mistry claims GoGlocal’s system is more effective in hand-holding small businesses.
He explains, “The businesses that work with us would want to sell through multiple marketplaces. There are the big ones, but what about local and boutique marketplaces in other countries?”
Besides the gamut of services it offers, GoGlocal is also tied up with about 30 local and secondary marketplaces, including Walmart, Dubai-based ecommerce platform Noon, Alibaba-owned Lazada, and Target.com.
In January 2023, India exported $65.15 billion worth of merchandise and services— up from $57 billion in January last year—according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
As a pilot programme, the Mumbai-headquartered platform works with over 40 brands to sell their products across North America, South America, Europe, and the UK. “We aim to fine-tune our product and services for scale before the public launch planned by the end of this year,” says Mistry.
At present, GoGlocal is majorly working with beauty, personal, and nutraceutical, among other companies, including skincare brand Mcaffeine, healthy food brand Open Secret, peanut butter player Myfitness, and Kal Hans Naturals, among others.
By the end of March, the platform plans to have at least 50 brands in its portfolio.
GoGlocal charges a 5%-15% commission, depending on the category and the revenue the brands generate.
In September 2022, the startup raised nearly $6 million in a pre-seed round from friends, family, and a few high net-worth individuals (HNIs).
GoGlocal will use the funds to further build its product and technology and expand its team. Presently, the startup has over 45 employees.
“Once we have established these, we will focus on growth. As a company, we are laying down the foundation for global selling so Indian brands can build on it,” says Mistry.
