E-commerce giant Flipkart has invested in EasyRewardz Software Services Pvt. Ltd, a company that offers services related to loyalty-based rewards, as part of the startup’s Series B funding round.
The capital infusion will help Easyrewardz develop new products and expand its operations, it said in a statement. The company didn’t disclose the amount it raised.
The news comes after VCCircle in July exclusively reported that Bengaluru-based Flipkart was likely to contribute to a $5 million round that Gurugram-headquartered EasyRewardz was raising.
The startup, which provides brands with consumer loyalty management solutions, was expected to dilute a 20% stake in the round, according to the July report.
The company will use the funds to drive new product development and accelerate its global expansion, EasyRewardz said in a statement.
Tejas Kadakia, co-founder and sales director at EasyRewardz, said the firm has established its position in India, and have a toe-hold in MENA. “We will now accelerate our global expansion to meet the growing demand of Customer Experience Management platforms,” Kadakia added.
EasyRewardz was founded by Kadakia, Soumya Chatterjee, Angad Singh and Sapan Kadakia in 2011. It enables members to track and manage their loyalty balances across airlines, hotels and shopping programmes all from a single dashboard.
In its last-known fundraise, the company secured $2 million (Rs 13 crore) in a Series A round led by Trans-Continental Venture Fund. Existing angel investor Jitendra Gupta, managing director at fintech firm PayU; and new angel investor Vinay Chatlani, co-founder and CEO of apparel firm Soch; also contributed.
In March this year, Flipkart said it floated an internal fund to back early-stage startups in e-commerce, fintech, payments, and complementary segments. The Walmart-promoted company had been investing in startups through its balance sheet. In fact, it acquired mobile payments company PhonePe and online fashion retailer Myntra, which are now its prized units.
Other similar startups in the loyalty rewards segment that have received strategic attention recently include the Bengaluru-based QwikCilver, which was acquired by digital retail payments platform Pine Labs in March this year for $110 million.
In 2017, One 97 Communications Ltd, the parent of digital wallet firm Paytm, invested an undisclosed amount in Noida-based mobile loyalty and data analytics startup Mobiquest Mobile Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
In the same year, loyalty rewards app mPaani Solutions Pvt. Ltd raised $1.35 million in a pre-Series A round led by IDG Ventures, Blume Ventures and Saha Fund.
