E-Business
Global Investors Tune into SWIRL as Live Video in Ecommerce Takes off

Live video shopping SaaS platform SWIRL has raised $250,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by global strategic investors and angels based in the US, Singapore, Middle-East and Europe including Gaurav Agarwal (Freedom Financial Network), Asheesh Khaneja (ex-IBM), Siddarth Razdan (FirstBridge Fund), Vineet Sharma (Dentsu) and Nirmal Shah (Prism Advisory) among others.
SWIRL aims to empower brands globally with experiential technology to engage more customers, shorten their purchase journey and accelerate online sales. SWIRL is on a mission to make ecommerce more engaging and human by bringing the in-store shopping experience online.
Their cloud based interactive and live video commerce SaaS platform helps both D2C brands and Retail enterprises to directly engage, convert and retain more customers using real-time virtual shopping that can also be whitelabelled and integrated with any existing eCommerce platform such as Shopify, Wix, WordPress, Magento, etc.
Founded in 2020, by Kaizad Hansotia and Bheshaj Joshi, SWIRL helps brands convert (on average) 3x more customers using shoppable short videos, livestream shopping and 1:1 virtual shopping.
The technology is state-of-the-art, infinitely scalable and contains a proprietary layer on top of video using text, chat (WhatsApp and SMS) and voice to make the entire shopping experience human-like.
SWIRL is trusted by over 100s of brands including ITC Fabelle, Unlimited Fashion by Arvind, GIVA, Zariin, and more recently has started working with Finnish fashion brand Ivana Helsinki.
It has helped brands like BeChef to increase their add-to-cart ratio by 400% and has seen 3x conversion rates compared to traditional ecommerce platforms.
On average, SWIRL has helped businesses to shorten their customer journey by cutting down the time it takes for them to purchase by 50-60%.
The consumer adoption of video-led social commerce has not only been accelerated during the pandemic but there is a permanent change in their buying behaviour which means that the future of retail and ecommerce belongs to companies that can replicate the offline shopping experience, digitally.
Quarterly revenues at SWIRL have increased 300% this year and it will soon begin to raise an institutional round for ramping up its growth and expand to multiple categories beyond ecommerce as it aims to officially enter the US & European markets by early 2022, with a goal to become one of the top 5 businesses in the experiential technology sector.
“Wherever the end consumer is involved, live commerce will play a major role in enabling sales by bridging the online-offline divide.
Right now it may be ecommerce, but if other industries such as financial services, real estate, automobile, travel & hospitality adapt, then we are potentially looking at $1 trillion opportunity which means video led sales engagement models will occupy 10-15% of global ecommerce market share by 2025” said Kaizad Hansotia, Founder & CEO of SWIRL
SWIRL offers businesses full control over the customer data and allows them to get real-time engagement analytics and post-show data points to optimise campaigns for future sales. Additionally, it easily integrates with a wide range of ecommerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce among others without writing a single line of code.
“Just like how WhatsApp displaced SMS for many people, video ecommerce is going to become the new gold standard and make the static image-based online shopping experience a thing of the past” added Bheshaj Joshi, Co-Founder & COO of SWIRL.
The fundraise will be used to support the company’s growth to optimise its multi-cloud video commerce technology platform that enables retailers to empower their in-store associates to provide an immersive video shopping experience for a global audience.
“I believe the SWIRL Live Video Shopping solution is ready for global adoption. Its diverse use-cases across multiple verticals such as fashion, beauty, lifestyle, jewellery, luxury and beyond, have an immediate topline impact and increased conversion rates.
The ROI is just amazing for both SMB’s and large enterprises that are building their direct-to-consumer channels” said Asheesh Khaneja on investing in the funding round.
“I think video social interactive commerce is an idea whose time has come and 5G will only accelerate this trend. Happy to be a part of SWIRL’s journey to becoming a global leader in this space” said Siddarth Razdan on investing in the funding round.
E-Business
Survey Reveals Marketing Leaders See Strong Potential in gTLDS Despite Knowledge Gap

A new global survey from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) reveals that 52% of marketing leaders believe generic top-level domains (gTLDs – the three characters or more that come after the dot in a URL) have strong potential for enhancing brand presence online; however, a knowledge gap is preventing many brands from taking advantage of the opportunities that a gTLD can bring.
The research surveyed over 2,000 marketing leaders across eight countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, U.K., and U.S.) with the purpose of creating a picture of the evolving digital marketing landscape and understanding the levels of awareness around gTLDs.
It comes as ICANN prepares to open the next application window for new gTLDs in April 2026 the New gTLD Program: Next Round – the first opportunity in more than a decade for organizations to apply to operate their own gTLD.
Top-level domains are the letters found at the end of an Internet address (with gTLDs including .charity, .menu, .paris and .ceo). Brands can apply to run their own gTLD as a way to indicate the purpose of their organization or to clearly mark a website as being related to their brand.
The research shows that increasing brand awareness and visibility is the top priority for marketing leaders (54%) and that over half believe that gTLDs have strong potential for enhancing brand presence online.
However, the research also shows that almost a third (32%) of marketing leaders surveyed are unfamiliar with gTLDs, which suggests that operating a new gTLD may be a strategic opportunity that many organizations are currently overlooking.
Key findings from the research include:
- After defining a gTLD, 92% of marketing leaders responded that they could see the potential benefits to gTLDs, with enhanced brand differentiation (46%), improved customer trust (45%), better control over online presence (44%), and improved SEO (44%) topping the list.
- 19% of marketing leaders work for organizations that have previously applied for a gTLD.
- Cost concerns (31%), knowledge gaps (27%), and insufficient resources (24%) were identified as the main barriers to application.
- The research revealed notable regional variations, with Nigerian (74%) and Indian (61%) marketing leaders showing the strongest belief in gTLDs’ potential for branding and online presence. In contrast, marketers in China expressed more mixed views, with 50% seeing strong potential but 49% considering gTLDs an unnecessary investment with unclear Return On Investment.
The findings come at a time when marketing leaders are facing significant challenges in standing out from competitors (53%), attracting and engaging the right audience (52%), and keeping pace with digital trends (47%).
A new gTLD can be an innovative tool for commerce and communication. They allow businesses in specific countries, sectors, or niche markets to create an exclusive, descriptive, and memorable label on the Internet.
An entity operating a gTLD can provide its users and customers with an extra measure of confidence in its security and legitimacy online. This can be valuable in today’s environment, where users often don’t know whether they can trust the source on the Internet.
Theresa Swinehart, SVP, Global Domains & Strategy said: “The New gTLD Program: Next Round presents an opportunity for businesses, communities, governments, and others to apply to operate their own secure space online, tailored to fit their organization, community, culture, language, and customer interests.
Now is also the moment for brands to consider applying for a gTLD, and this research tells us there is still a lack of awareness. ICANN can help provide information and raise awareness of the Next Round and the opportunity it presents for global communities, organizations, and businesses, including brands.”
To help address the knowledge gap, ICANN is developing resources to help organizations understand the application process and potential opportunities for gTLDs ahead of the 2026 application window. ICANN also offers the Applicant Support Program (ASP), which provides financial and non-financial assistance to eligible applicants.
E-Business
Firm Reports a 48% Increase in Malicious Packages Threatening Software Supply Chains

Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) experts at the 10th annual Cyber Security Weekend – META 2025 held recently, talked about supply chain attacks and reported that by the end of 2024 a total of 14,000 malicious packages were found in open-source projects, a 48% increase compared to the end of 2023. 42 million versions of open-source packages have been examined by Kaspersky throughout 2024 in search for vulnerabilities.
Open-source is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. Popular open-source packages include GoMod, Maven, NuGet, npm, PyPI, and others.
These are tools that power countless applications and help developers easily find, install, and manage pre-built code libraries, making it simpler to build software by reusing code others have written. Attackers take advantage of the popularity of these and other packages.
In March 2025, the Lazarus Group was reported to have deployed several malicious npm packages, which were downloaded multiple times before removal. These packages contained malware to steal credentials, cryptocurrency wallet data, and deploy backdoors, targeting developers’ systems across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
The attack leveraged GitHub repositories for added legitimacy, highlighting the group’s sophisticated supply chain tactics. Kaspersky’s GReAT also found other npm packages related to this attack. Malicious npm packages could have been integrated into web development, cryptocurrency platforms, and enterprise software, risking widespread data theft and financial losses.
In 2024, a sophisticated backdoor was discovered in XZ Utils versions 5.6.0 and 5.6.1, a widely used compression library in Linux distributions. Inserted by a trusted contributor, the malicious code targeted SSH servers, enabling remote command execution and threatening countless systems globally.
Detected before widespread exploitation due to performance anomalies, the incident highlighted the dangers of supply chain attacks. XZ Utils is integral to operating systems, cloud servers, and IoT devices, making its compromise a threat to critical infrastructure and enterprise networks.
In 2024, Kaspersky’s GReAT discovered that attackers uploaded malicious Python packages like chatgpt-python and chatgpt-wrapper to PyPI, mimicking legitimate tools for interacting with ChatGPT APIs.
These packages, designed to steal credentials and deploy backdoors, capitalised on the popularity of AI development to trick developers into downloading them. These packages could have been used in AI development, chatbot integrations, and data analytics platforms, endangering sensitive AI workflows and user data.
“Open-source software is the backbone of many modern solutions, but its openness is being weaponised. The 50% rise in malicious packages by the end of 2024 shows attackers are actively embedding sophisticated backdoors and data stealers in popular packages, which millions rely on.
“Without rigorous vetting and real-time monitoring, a single compromised package can trigger a global breach. Organisations need to secure the supply chain before the next XZ Utils-level attack succeeds,” comments Dmitry Galov, Head of Research Center for Russia and CIS at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team.
E-Business
NDPC Probes Suspected Data Breach in Examination Centres

Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has launched an investigation into allegations that the confidentiality and integrity of candidates’ personal data may have been compromised by hackers.
The Commission initiated the inquiry following concerns over possible data breaches during examinations.
Preliminary findings indicate that several examination centres may not have implemented adequate technical and organizational measures to safeguard candidates’ personal information, as required under data protection regulations.
Although the incident reportedly affected 379, 997 candidates, the NDPC’s investigation is poised to cover a systemic audit of data processing and third parties.
It will be recalled that JAMB recently admitted that a technical error on its platform affected a total of 379,997 candidates in 157 examination centres across Lagos and the South-East.
Further investigation led to the arrest of at least 20 suspects who are currently in the custody of the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police Force.
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