Firework raises funding from American Express

Firework, a short-form video platform that brings a shoppable, livestream video experience to websites, recently announced it had raised funding from American Express or Amex Ventures.

While the company did not disclose the amount raised in this round, the company said it has raised over USD 100 million to date. Firework is also backed by IDG Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and GSR Ventures.

The proceeds of the round will be utilised towards expanding reach to small- and mid-sized D2C businesses, brands and merchants which is core to Amex, Firework President (Global Business) Jason Holland said.

“This investment from Amex Ventures is about much more than just the dollar amount. It's also an affirmation of Firework's mission to deliver enterprise-level customer engagement solutions to the small business sector.”

"With this investment, Firework will double down on its commitment to democratising the world of e-commerce, putting control back in the hands of businesses," he added.

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"Amex Ventures invests in ideas that are transforming the everyday for consumers and businesses globally. Firework is building the infrastructure to power next-generation digital shopping and e-commerce experiences," Harshul Sanghi, global head of Amex Ventures had said on the occasion.

For those who aren't aware, Firework offers shoppable video, live streaming commerce and monetisation capabilities to over 600 direct-to-consumer brands, retailers and media publishers worldwide. These videos can be used by e-commerce platforms, brands and publishers to reach out to their audience in a way that best suits their products. It also enables its customers to create and host native, shoppable video content for engaging product discovery, seamless shopping experiences. 

This development comes at a time when the social media-based shopping market is slowly booming in India. In line with these developments, online shopping platform Myntra recently announced its foray in the social commerce market in India with the launch of M-Live service. M-Live brings an interactive and real-time live shopping experience to shoppers in India. It will let companies and influencers host live video sessions of products on the Myntra app, enabling viewers to shop instantly.