Tag: Fundraising

  • CleverTap raises $105 mn in series D funding round led by CDPQ

    CleverTap raises $105 mn in series D funding round led by CDPQ

    Mumbai: Global B2B SaaS platform, CleverTap has signed definitive agreements to raise $105 million in a series D funding round led by CDPQ, a global investment group that has committed $75 million, with participation from IIFL AMC’s tech fund, along with existing investors Tiger Global and Sequoia India.

    The funds will be used to support CleverTap’s global expansion and enhance the development of its world-class solutions and technology.

    CleverTap’s customer engagement and retention SaaS platform leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to offer a comprehensive user engagement suite that enables brands to build valuable, long-term relationships with their customers.

    CleverTap’s subscription-based solution has been adopted by a loyal customer base of twelve hampered brands in a hundred countries, representing ten thousand apps across industries including fintech, ecommerce, subscription, on demand, and streaming media.

    Commenting on the collection, CleverTap co-founder and executive chairman Sunil Thomas said, “Our vision has been to reshape the way businesses engage with their consumers and bring technology to MarTech. The addition of long-term investors CDPQ and IIFL AMC Tech fund to CleverTap’s existing backers, Sequoia India, Accel, Tiger Global, and Recruit Holdings, is a great endorsement of the successful business we have built, the innovation we bring to the market, and the growth potential CleverTap holds.”

    “The fresh funds will help fuel our plans to further strengthen our presence in key geographies and expand our teams. The last few months have been quite exciting for us with the Leanplum acquisition and the unveiling of TesseractDB. And now, with the new institutional investors coming on board, we have all that we need to grow at a faster rate while consolidating our position as the global leader in the retention space,” he added.

    Adding to it, CDPQ executive vice president and head of private equity Martin Laguerre commented, “CleverTap has established itself as a partner of choice for its clients by helping them generate significant incremental revenue. Its subscription-based platform offers a single and reliable source of information that allows brands to maximise the lifetime value of their existing customers by engaging them in a highly personalised way.”

    He added, “As consumer brands are increasingly focused on customer retention and prioritise tools offering a tangible return on investment, we believe CleverTap is well positioned to maintain its global growth trajectory and help more businesses enhance their customer experience.”

  • Pepperfry appoints Anand Batra as the chief financial officer

    Pepperfry appoints Anand Batra as the chief financial officer

    Mumbai: The e-commerce furniture and home goods company, Pepperfry announced on Friday the appointment of Anand Batra as its chief financial officer (CFO). This is Batra’s second stint with Pepperfry, his first being a five-year stint during the early days of Pepperfry’s inception. In his role as CFO, Batra will spearhead the organisation’s corporate strategy, fundraising efforts, financial operations, legal and secretarial functions. His appointment is effective immediately and he will be based at the Pepperfry corporate office in Mumbai.

    Batra is a seasoned finance professional with more than a decade of experience in venture capital, business management, financial planning and operations, fundraising, strategy, and investment banking.

    Before joining Pepperfry, Batra worked as executive director at Z3Partners, a leading tech and digital fund, where he was involved with the fund’s investments in Dealshare, Shipsy, Gramophone and Cyfirma. Earlier, Batra was a principal in the investing team at IvyCap Ventures, focusing on early-stage investments in Indian consumer and technology-enabled businesses.

    Before starting his career as an investor, Batra headed up category management for the home goods business at Pepperfry. During this stint, Batra transformed the home business unit economics while maintaining high levels of customer experience. Batra headed up the financial planning and strategy function at Pepperfry, where he led fundraising efforts, apart from helping shape the company’s omnichannel strategy and launching business categories.

    A graduate of the London School of Economics and Narsee Monjee College, Mumbai, Batra started his career as an investment banker at Lazard and Avendus Capital in India.

    Pepperfry co-founder & CEO Ambareesh Murty said, “We are thrilled to welcome Anand back home. His contributions during Pepperfry’s formative years were invaluable and had helped steer our business through several transformational changes. I am a fan of his wide world view and look forward to working with him to chart Pepperfry’s future through India’s rapidly evolving digital and retail landscape.”

    “It gives me great delight to rejoin the Pepperfry family. The company is a differentiated brand in the e-commerce space and has undisputedly built a community-based platform defining home and living. In its decade long journey, Pepperfry has shown all the makings of a strong consumer brand. I look forward to working closely with the team to drive the next phase of growth,” said Anand Batra.

  • YouTube announces new suit of features for fundraising

    YouTube announces new suit of features for fundraising

    MUMBAI: YouTube has announced a new suite of features designed to offer creators and their fans new ways to contribute charitable causes, named as YouTube Giving. The new features include Fundraisers (beta), Community fundraisers (beta), Campaign matching (beta), and Super Chat for Good. The tech giant has been constantly expanding the types of things creators can do with their videos.

    The new Fundraisers feature allows YouTube to create and embed a fundraising campaign right next to their videos and live streams. Fans will be able to donate to creator-led campaigns directly on YouTube via a “Donate” button on the back of this feature. However, this first beta period will be available to a limited group of creators in the US and Canada.

    It will enable multiple creators to co-host the same fundraiser. With this feature, campaign will appear in multiple videos simultaneously and reflecting the total amount raised across the platform.

    “In the coming weeks, we’ll also roll out Campaign Matching, allowing creators who organie Fundraisers and Community Fundraisers to receive matching pledges to help amplify their efforts. This beta feature will display matching pledges from other creators or brands directly within the Fundraiser to help inspire more fans to get involved and maximize impact,” read the company blog.

    Online fundraising has now become a popular activity across different sites. Another FAANG company Facebook also entered the market a couple of years ago. But the social media platform charges platform fees on some of these fundraisers.

    Super Chat for Good is yet to be launched which will allow creators to raise funds on live streams and Premiere videos.