Quantduo Technologies Pvt Ltd, which operates consumer insights-focussed location intelligence platform GeoIQ, has raised Rs 2.5 crore (about $337,940) in a seed round of funding.
The round in the Bengaluru-based startup has been led by 9Unicorns, the venture fund set up by startup incubator and accelerator Venture Catalysts. Other participants in this round include Inflection Point (IP) Ventures, Kayenne, and investment platform LetsVenture.
GeoIQ was set up in 2018 by Devashish Fuloria, Tusheet Srivastava, and Ankita Thakur. The company says it leverages its location data stack and machine learning capabilities to provide companies with insights on their customers.
It provides data and models through access to application programming interfaces (APIs) that are directly plugged into decision engines. Sectors that it primarily concentrates on include financial technology and insurance. It is also looking to enable use-cases for e-commerce and retail sectors.
In a statement, Fuloria – who is also GeoIQ’s chief executive officer – said the startup will primarily use the fundraise to aggressively expand its user base.
“The out-of-the-box idea of utilising location data and leveraging it to drive positive business outcomes will prove to be highly successful in today’s economy where data is considered priceless,” 9Unicorns co-founder and managing director Apoorva Ranjan Sharma said.
The bet on GeoIQ marks the latest investment for 9Unicorns, which is a sector-agnostic fund and Venture Catalysts’ maiden investment vehicle. It hit its first close at Rs 100 crore (around $13.7 million).
At the time of its first close, it said its investment plan will involve initially offering up to $100,000 for a 5-7% stake in a startup. Following an acceleration process, certain startups will be eligible for a follow-on round supplied by a syndicate of Venture Catalysts’ investors and other venture capital funds.
It has added several companies to its portfolio since hitting the first close, including fitness platform Oga Fit, AI-based content marketing firm Instoried, celebrity engagement startup Gonuts, social gaming platform Tamasha, fertility care firm Janani, snacks-focussed consumer brand TagZ Foods, and financial-technology firm Klub.