Bangalore based retail-tech startup SnapBizz have announced that it has raised funding from Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons. In January 2016, SnapBizz had announced a Series A funding of $7.2 million led by Jungle Ventures, Taurus Value creation, Konly Venture and Blume Ventures.

With the mission of transforming the un-organized fragmented retail sector in the country, SnapBizz currently works with over a thousand kirana stores across Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore and aims to expand its footprint across other tier 1 and 2 cities.

Prem Kumar, CEO and founder, SnapBizz said

We are privileged to have Mr. Tata as an investor at SnapBizz. As one of the most respected names in corporate India, Mr. Tata brings a rich legacy of doing business with a human touch. This reflects in his investment in SnapBizz as we have begun a humble journey of reverse marginalisation of SMB’s and driving digital inclusion in the large consumer goods industry.

A visionary of Mr. Tata’s stature showing confidence in SnapBizz is certainly a big boost for our business idea and will continue to accelerate the digital revolution in India’s kirana stores. Brands are also seeing this an opportunity to partner with us in order to be a well wisher of the retailers ?and get the share of mind of the retailer to appropriate the positioning as the company that cares for the retailers.

Snapbizz is on a mission to transform the face of small-scale retail sector in the country and empower kirana stores not only to be competition ready but to have a competitive edge by making them ‘Virtual Super Markets’. Snapbizz solutions are designed and developed with an in-depth understanding of business process of the kirana store that is reflected in its simplicity and ease of use.

It’s unique ability to create virtual shelf space attracts additional income to retailers from companies that want to merchandize and contextually engage customers in-store and out of store. It also enables smart store management and a digital connection to consumers, FMCG companies and distributors.

In a diverse market like India, where the traditional kirana stores make 98% of store universe and 85% of retail business, the Snapbizz solution is revolutionizing kirana stores across the country by connecting all the dots of the fragmented FMCG ecosystem [brands, retailers, consumers, wholesalers and distributors] and addresses pain points of all stakeholders.

About SnapBizz

SnapBizz Cloudtech Pvt Ltd is a retail-technology company founded in 2013 to transform the small scale retail sector in the country. To reverse marginalization of SMB’s and drive digital inclusion in the large consumer goods industry, it has developed a technology platform to connect all stakeholders of the fragmented retail ecosystem of India, while adding value to individual stakeholders.

The end-to-end solution it offers is an android based, cloud-connected business platform that is also cost-effective. The solution comprises of tablet, barcode scanner, printer and an intelligent external large consumer facing LED display for consumer engagement. SnapBizz is backed by leading investors and strategic partners who are captains of industry and bring in an innovation funnel of cutting edge technology.

[Image Credit* – SnapBizz]

Zendrive, the mobile technology that makes roads safer through data and analytics, today announced it has raised a $13.5 million Series A round led by Series A round led by Shervin Pishevar of Sherpa Capital with participation from Nyca Partners, Thomvest Ventures [Peter J. Thomson] & existing investors First Round Capital, BMW iVentures, Fontinalis Partners [Bill Ford] and Tad Montross. The funding will drive the company’s focus on safety innovation as the world rapidly moves toward the future of transportation.

Pankaj Risbood, Co-Founder & VP-Engineering of Zendrive said

The transportation and logistics sectors in India are undergoing rapid growth and modernization. At the same time, road safety is becoming an increasing focus for regulators and communities [240,000 fatalities on the road in 2013]. Zendrive technology, by virtue of working on any smartphone, fits in very well with the requirements for a solution that is cheap, does not require hardware and can be rapidly deployed nationwide.

Through its product suite, Zendrive’s SDK technology taps mobile sensors to measure driver safety through actions like acceleration, braking, swerving, and phone use, among many others. Zendrive, founded by Google and Facebook veterans, is utilizing powerful artificial intelligence algorithms and hundreds of billions of data points to analyze sensor data and return actionable insights for fleets and drivers. Because it’s software-based, managing and scaling within any number of vehicles is simple and affordable, allowing for more flexibility than a hardware solution.

Shervin Pishevar, co-founder of Sherpa Capital said

Zendrive represents the natural evolution of safety for the next wave of transportation innovation. Stacked with mobile and data experts from Google and Facebook, this team has introduced the first significant driver and passenger safety innovation since air-bags.

Pankaj Risbood, Co-Founder & VP-Engineering of Zendrive added

Zendrive engineering team in India is building state of the art machine learning models to monitor driving behaviors and employing game mechanics to coach drivers to become safer. We are already working with hundreds of billions of sensor data points and growing very rapidly to extract actionable insights for making roads safer.

Zendrive’s technology can be used by a broad list of industries and products including on-demand services, commercial fleets, taxi aggregators, insurance, city planning, mapping, driving instruction, roadside assistance and more. Together, these industries span hundreds of millions of drivers worldwide. With its new investment, Zendrive plans to grow its team and continue honing its road safety technology. This round brings the company’s total investment up to $15 million.

About Zendrive

Zendrive is a company dedicated to making roads safer through data and analytics. It represents the next wave of safety innovation as the world rapidly moves toward the future of transportation that includes on-demand and autonomous vehicles. Through its product suite, Zendrive leverages mobile sensor data to provide actionable insights that improve safety for passengers and drivers. For more information, please visit Zendrive

[Image Credit* – Zendrive]

SnapBizz, a retail-technology firm, has raised $7.2 million led by Jungle Ventures, Taurus Value creation, Konly Venture and Blume Ventures. The funds raised will be used to continue the firm’s rapid growth and spur market expansion across key cities. The company had earlier received a seed fund of $1.7 million from Qualcomm, Jungle Ventures, National Research Foundation of Singapore, Taurus Value creation and Blume Ventures

SnapBizz is already transforming thousands of traditional retail outlets in Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad via a technology solution addressing the key business challenges faced by them. SnapBizz also connects and provides immense value to all stakeholders of the fragmented retail ecosystem of India.

The cost-effective, end-to-end solution is an Android-based, cloud-connected business platform. The solution comprises a tablet, barcode scanner, printer and an intelligent consumer-facing LED display for consumer engagement.

Prem Kumar, Founder and CEO, SnapBizz said

We are thrilled that all ecosystem players have shown confidence in our solution and that our existing investors have reiterated their support to us. Large retail and online players account for only 10-15% of any brand’s business. The remaining 90% happens through traditional trade and there is zero or minimal last mile connectivity between brands, consumers and retailers. We are on a mission to address this big gap while addressing the pain points of the kirana stores.

David Gowdey, Managing Partner, Jungle Ventures said

We are convinced with the SnapBizz business model, which brings a tailored technology solution to kirana stores and believe that it will play a large role in India’s retail growth story. Prem and team have a rich and diverse experience across multiple markets and verticals that has led to their impressive growth over a short span of time.  We are confident that this momentum will continue as more kirana stores look to leverage technology to improve their business.

SnapBizz empowers retailers by delivering a competitive edge through leveraging their strengths to achieve improved profitability. SnapBizz also drives digital inclusion of a large part of the economy and provides the much needed last mile connect in keeping with the national agenda of Digital India.

Chirantan Bhabhra, Director- Brands Engagement, SnapBizz added

SnapBizz is bringing in more money to kirana stores through partnership with FMCG companies. Brands, large and small, find SnapBizz a must-be-on platform. They can now contextually engage consumers in and out of stores, track promotions efficiently, analyse their business like never before and connect directly with kirana retailers.

Prem Kumar, Founder and CEO, SnapBizz added

Kirana stores have been the face of India’s retail ecosystem for ages. The last few years witnessed the entry of large players in the form of supermarkets, hypermarkets and e-commerce posing a huge threat to kirana stores’ business. Despite stiff competition, kirana stores are still considered as the most trusted retail format in our country.

They have unique strengths like trust, convenience, flexibility and competitive pricing which make them highly relevant. SnapBizz helps kirana stores leverage these strengths to get a competitive edge. In line with the changing business environment and consumer expectations, kirana stores have realized the need to transform the business through advanced technology solutions

About SnapBizz

SnapBizz Cloudtech Pvt Ltd is a retail-technology company founded in 2013 to transform the small scale retail sector in the country. To reverse marginalization of SMB’s and drive digital inclusion in the large consumer goods industry, it has developed a technology platform to connect all stakeholders of the fragmented retail ecosystem of India, while adding value to individual stakeholders.

The end-to-end solution it offers is an android based, cloud-connected business platform that is also cost-effective. The solution comprises of tablet, barcode scanner, printer and an intelligent external large consumer facing LED display for consumer engagement. SnapBizz is backed by leading investors and strategic partners who are captains of industry and bring in an innovation funnel of cutting edge technology.

Bangalore based media-tech startup, ZAPR, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by Flipkart, with participation from Saavn, Micromax and Mu Sigma co-founders – Dhiraj Rajaram and Ambiga Dhiraj. This round also saw participation from existing investors – Dinesh Agarwal, Samir Bangara, Sanjay Nath and Arihant Patni. Funds raised will be primarily used to expand on the company’s product portfolio for the media & advertising industry as well as to scale up the technology team.

With its proprietary technology platform, ZAPR has been making waves in the Indian media industry and is now working with leading media agencies, brands and broadcasters. It helps them better understand the media consumption preferences of millions of Indians, and to engage with their audiences seamlessly across TV as well as the mobile and social universe. Over the past year, ZAPR has scaled tremendously and its media consumption data repository is now over 100 times larger than any other in India.

Sandipan Mondal, CEO of  ZAPR said

We’re excited to have Flipkart, Saavn, Micromax as well as Dhiraj and Ambiga from Mu Sigma join our latest round of funding. These companies have redefined the concept of innovation and have disrupted their respective industries. We at ZAPR, share their DNA of leveraging technology to solve intractable problems and their participation in this round, along with the tremendous support we’re received from the media and advertising industry, further reinforces our beliefs.

As the importance of seamless 360 degree marketing increases for brands, ZAPR’s ability to connect the TV screen with the mobile screen, ensures that the same user can now be engaged across several mediums. Brands are increasingly looking to move their budgets from TV to mobile and the ZAPR platform is suitably positioned to catalyse that shift. Additionally, the sheer scale of ZAPR’s data, drives incredible insights for brands and broadcasters.

Nishant Verman, Sr. Director- Corporate Development, Flipkart said

With mobile and internet bringing in a paradigm shift in the way media is consumed, Zapr is surely looking at a very exciting growth road-map. The team has firm grounding in terms of understanding of the media ecosystem. We are confident that with a well-defined strategy and innovation; Zapr will have a unique position in the media space.

ZAPR was a graduate of the first batch of the GSF accelerator, founded by Rajesh Sawhney. Since graduating from the accelerator, it has been working closely with numerous media veterans like Samir Bangara. Samir, formerly MD Disney (Digital) and currently Co-Founder, MD Qyuki has been closely associated with ZAPR as an angel investor and mentor supporting the team on strategy and fund raising.

Other media and technology veterans such as Roshan Abbas, Naveen Tewari, Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Rajesh Kamat, are also investors in ZAPR.

About ZAPR

ZAPR was co-founded in 2012 by IIM Ahmedabad batch-mates, Deepak Baid, Sajo Mathews and Sandipan Mondal. The company is India’s largest media consumption repository and audience targeting platform. ZAPR’s proprietary technology profiles the offline media consumption behaviour of millions of people, enabling content owners and brands, for the very first time, to identify their offline audiences and re-engage with them on digital and mobile. For more information, please visit ZAPR

[Image Credit* – pixvc]

Hike Messenger, India’s only homegrown and fastest growing messaging app, has announced that some of the world’s top notch tech veterans have invested in the company in their personal capacities and are playing advisers to it.

These top veterans include:

Adam D’Angelo, Founder and CEO, Quora – Adam previously served as Chief Technology Officer at Facebook, where he oversaw new product development and managed the engineering team. In addition, he guided the site’s architecture and infrastructure and started the company’s growth team.

Prior to serving as CTO, Adam led the Facebook Platform team and, as an engineer, built the initial infrastructure for news feed and the first generation of the company’s advertising targeting and delivery systems. He has invested personally in Instagram, Nextdoor, Asana and Wealthfront.

Aditya Agarwal, Vice President Engineering, Dropbox – Aditya came to Dropbox via the acquisition of Cove, a company he co-founded that was focused on improving group collaboration and communication. Prior to Cove, Aditya was the Director of Product Engineering at Facebook where he oversaw the development of core products such as News Feed, Search, Photos, Profile and Applications. Aditya was one of the first engineers at Facebook.

Ruchi Sanghvi, Ex-Vice President, Operations, Dropbox – She was responsible for product, recruiting, marketing, communications and other functions. She came to Dropbox through its acquisition of Cove, a collaboration software company she founded in 2011.

Prior to that Ruchi was the first female engineer at Facebook, and was instrumental in implementing the first versions of key features such as News Feed. In the past, Ruchi has been awarded the Tech-Fellow award for ‘Engineering Leadership’, included in Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’ & featured by BBC as one of five Indian technology pioneers. Ruchi is an active angel investor and advisor to many technology startups.

Matt Mullenweg, Founder & CEO of Automattic Inc. and Co-Founder of WordPress – As an online social media entrepreneur, Matt gives back to the startup community through his angel investment firm Audrey capital, which has backed over 100 companies since 2008, many of which have been acquired.

Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder and CEO, Hike Messenger said

It’s great to have the world’s top brains in tech share Hike’s vision; and not just entrust us with their investment, but more importantly, also advise us on our product and strategy. Each of the them brings with him/her a core area of expertise, which we at Hike find immensely useful as we aggressively grow in India.

Hike has seen phenomenal growth in India over these last 3 years, having acquired 70 million users and transacting over 30 billion messages per month. Over the last year, Hike has brought on board solid leadership from brands like PepsiCo, Amazon, Unilever, Zynga etc. to power its next phase of growth and has been hiring top global talent.

Quotes about funding & Indian Market

Ruchi Sanghvi, ex-Vice President, Operations, Dropbox & Aditya Agarwal, Vice President, Engineering, Dropbox

India is close to our hearts and we understand the challenges faced by the billion plus people of India. It’s quite clear that messaging is playing a key role in bringing people online in a mobile first market like India and Hike Messenger has begun to play a pivotal role in that market. We are both aligned to Hike’s vision and are excited about what comes next.

Matt Mullenweg, Founder and CEO of Automattic Inc. and Co-Founder of WordPress

As an online social media entrepreneur myself, I have keenly observed India. I believe in Hike Messenger’s vision and I can see the team gearing up and are well positioned for aggressive growth in the country.

Hike’s Growth Story

• Dec 2012 – Global launch
• Feb 2013 – Messaging traffic grows 10X week on week
• April 2013 – Hit the first 5M user milestone in just 4 months of its launch | Raised $7M from BSB
• Feb 2014 – Hit the 15M user mark
• April 2014 – Received $14M fresh funding from BSB
• June 2014 – Crossed 20M user mark, launched first TVC
• July 2014 – Hit #1 rank on App stores
• August 2014 – Crossed 35M user mark, receives $65M fresh funding led by Tiger Global & BSB
• November 2014 – Launches regional stickers on hike
• January 2015 – Launched free Hike Calls
• February 2015 – Launched Cricket Scores on hike
• Aug 2015: Hike announces 20 billion messages per month and launched Hike News
• Sep 2015: Launched Group Calling with upto 100 people

Additional information

You can download the app at – http://get.hike.in For more information, please visit the Hike Blog

[Image Credit* – Wikimedia]