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Series A brings total investment in Singapore-based abillion, founded by entrepreneur Vikas Garg, to US$17 million.
NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — abillion, a rapidly growing social commerce platform designed to help people and businesses around the world be more sustainable, has successfully closed a US$10 million Series A financing round. The Series A was led by NYC-based venture fund 1/0 Capital. Speaking on their investment into the Singapore-based company, Ziggy Jonsson, Senior Partner, said, “We’re delighted to support abillion, a platform that can inspire users, provide daily utility, drive purchases, and promote advocacy while creating real impact for the planet.”
Vikas Garg, founder & CEO, abillion
abillion was founded by Vikas Garg in July 2017. Garg, a career investment banker and fund manager, started the company to repurpose social media and ecommerce for sustainability and social impact. The abillion app was launched in May 2018 and has been downloaded by more than one million people. abillion members have published more than one million reviews of sustainable food, fashion and beauty products from more than 60,000 consumer products brands in 161 countries. Content creators unlock donations that the company makes to sustainability initiatives. abillion has donated more than US$1 million to impactful charities around the world.
Other prominent investors in the company’s Series A include Mamoru Taniya, the Chairman of Tokyo-based SDG Impact Japan, the first full-service sustainable investment firm in Japan. Bradley Busetto, former Director of the United Nations Development Programme Global Centre on Tech, Innovation and Sustainability and co-CEO of SDG Impact Japan, explains, “A social media platform dedicated to the planet makes a lot of sense to us. Helping people make smarter decisions around what they eat and wear and connecting those choices back to measurable impact for society, animals and the planet.”
Timo Recker, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Next Gen Foods, creators of plant-based chicken brand TiNDLE, is an early investor. Another early investor is Zurich-based venture fund Blue Horizon, founded by Roger Lienhard, whose investments include Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat, JUST, Wild Earth, and Geltor.
The new funding will be used to expand the company’s product development, engineering and design capabilities, and to build a peer-to-peer marketplace within the abillion app that enables consumers to become the next generation of sustainability entrepreneurs from around the world. “We have a long road ahead in achieving our target of one billion people committed to plant-based living and a more sustainable planet. Completing our Series A is a significant milestone and we’re excited to make a far greater impact for our planet in 2022 and beyond,” says Garg.
For a portrait of Vikas Garg, here.
For images of abillion in use and more portraits, here.
Vikas’ biography can be found here.
Website: www.abillion.com