Mumbai-based Jhakaas Technologies Pvt. Ltd, an app-based aggregator of offline businesses, has raised an undisclosed amount in its pre-Series A round from US-based investor Amen Dhyllon.
The money will be used to upgrade the technology infrastructure behind the Jhakaas app, besides expanding its services across India, the company said in a statement.
In February 2016, Jhakaas was founded by IIM-Calcutta alumnus Bharat Mandot, who is also a chartered accountant and company secretary.
The company provides offline vendors with a technology platform to help them sell their wares. People in and around Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Indore, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad, Pune and Bengaluru can use the Jhakaas app to buy grocery and medicines from local stores. The app currently caters to over 300 product categories, and claims to have a network of 100,000-plus merchants on its platform.
The company is planning to scale up its presence by bringing another 400,000 merchants on board by March 2018. The app is available on Android and IOS platforms, both in English and Hindi.
“With proper capital backing, Jhakaas can make a substantial impact on the entire retail ecosystem by adding more kirana shops and owners on its platform. It aims to bring the unorganised market under one umbrella,†said Mandot.
In MarchVCCircle had reported that the startup had raised Rs 1 crore ($154,000) in a seed round from a clutch of investors, including Mumbai-based management consultancy firm Stelcore Management Services Pvt. Ltd, Bloomberg Data Services country manager Malini Patel, India Shelter Finance director CP Sanadhya and Archroma India’s managing director Anjani Prasad.
Jhakaas competes with the likes of Goodbox and NowFloats. Early this year, NowFloats had raised $10 million in a Series B round. In 2015, Goodbox had raised $2.5 million from Nexus Venture Partners.