Delhi-based Alchemy Web Pvt Ltd, which operates an online platform that helps restaurants to run their day-to-day operations, including ordering, online presence management and customer relationship management (CRM) under the brand LimeTray, has bagged an undisclosed amount in its Series A funding from Matrix Partners India. Other investors who participated in the round include Umang Kumar, CEO of Gaadi.com; Ankur Warikoo head (APAC) at Groupon; and Ankur Singla, CEO of Akosha.
“Our vision is to build a full-stack technology platform for restaurants across India. We are restaurant-first in our approach, and want to enable more and more restaurants to come online and solve critical business needs using our platform,†said Akhilesh Bali, Founder and CEO, LimeTray.
Alchemy Web was founded by Akhilesh Bali and Piyush Jain. An alumnus of Indian School of Business, Bali previously headed FoodPanda India. He had also founded a startup called MithaiMate in the past. His partner Jain was earlier head (online marketing) at FoodPanda.
Alchemy Web provides back-end technology to restaurants to enable them to carry out critical processes like managing their online presence, doing deliveries, and managing their PoS and CRM systems. The firm claims that it has already signed up over 200 restaurants, mainly in the Delhi-NCR region.
“Restaurants are adopting a range of mobile-first technology at a rapid pace to solve their business needs be it discovery, dining experience, ordering, loyalty or restaurant management. The food-tech market is deep enough to have multiple winners. We share Akhilesh and Piyush’s vision for an Indian restaurateur’s needs and are excited about partnering with them on this journey to create a large company,†said Vikram Vaidyanathan, MD of Matrix India.
Matrix is an investment firm with Rs 3,000 crore under management. The firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer market at the seed, early and early growth stages. The firm has invested in several companies including Biscoot (digital entertainment), MSwipe (mobile PoS), Newshunt (mobile local language platform), Ola (cab marketplace), Quikr (online classifieds), Stayzilla (stays marketplace), Traffline (local social information) and Woo (social dating).
Last week, Matrix invested an undisclosed amount in Red Monster Games India Pvt Ltd, a mobile social gaming company.
Another firm which provides tech solutions and services to the hospitality industry is HMS Infotech Pvt Ltd, which offers cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions for small and mid-sized hospitality firms. The firm, which operates under the Hotelogix brand, had raised $1.2 million (Rs 6 crore) in a funding round led by venture capital firm Accel Partners. Blume Ventures and Mumbai Angels also took part in the round, two years ago.