Data platform Atlan, founded by the team behind SocialCops that is backed by former Google's Southeast Asia and India vice-president Rajan Anandan, said it has raised Rs 18 crore (about $2.6 million) in a pre-Series A round of funding led by early-stage venture capital firm WaterBridge Ventures.
Anandan, who quit Google earlier this year to join as managing director at Sequoia Capital India, is also an investor in Atlan.
Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons; US-based 500 Startups; Singapore-based venture capital firm Hatcher; and family offices such as the Bhagchandka family fund are also investors in Atlan.
Atlan, which was founded in 2018 by Prukalpa Sankar and Varun Banka, will use the fresh capital for global expansion and hiring.
The startup allows teams to collaborate on data projects while automating repetitive tasks. It currently has a client base of over 200 companies globally including Unilever and Milkbasket.
Sankar and Banka had launched SocialCops, a data company, in late 2012 in Singapore while pursuing graduation. SocialCops had raised seed funding in 2014. The company has been behind projects including India’s National Data Platform and gas subsidy programme Ujjwala Yojana. It has also been part of global Sustainable Development Goals monitoring in partnership with the United Nations.
It was while working on these projects that the idea of Atlan was conceived. SocialCops, owned by Peeply Pvt. Ltd, will continue as a data firm.
WaterBridge
The venture firm invests from seed to Series A stages and puts capital in subsequent financing rounds. It backs companies in India or businesses with a strong India angle, where tech is an enabler.
WaterBridge has made 16 investments so far. These include LetsMD, a fintech startup in the healthcare sector; ed-tech startup Doubtnut; online lending platform ZipLoan; hyperlocal discovery and rewards platform Magicpin; legal tech firm MyAdvo; and review generation tool Fame MS.
Earlier in February, the venture capital firm invested in Nymble Labs, which is a Bengaluru-based startup behind cooking robot Julia.
In May, VCCircle reported that WaterBridge invested in Canadian e-pharmacy company PocketPills.https://www.vccircle.com/waterbridge-ventures-makes-first-known-overseas-startup-bet/
Last year, WaterBridge exited its investment in Unacademy after selling its stake in the online learning platform to marquee investors Sequoia Capital, Nexus Venture Partners and SAIF Partners.