Deals from the startup world

Knowlarity buys customer engagement start-up Smartwards

Cloud telephony start-up Knowlarity Communications Pvt. Ltd has acquired Gurgaon-based start-up Smartwards Services Pvt. Ltd,a customer engagement platform that simplifies loyalty for local businesses and their customers, for an undisclosed amount.

ShantanuMathur and Dhanraj Singh Bisht, Smartwards’ founders will now lead the India operations of Knowlarity. Mathur has earlier been the CEO of e-commerce portal FashionAndYou.

Founded in 2013, Smartwards’ proprietary technology enables SMBs to identify, reward and engage customers, in-store and out-of-store. It has a presence in over 150 locations across eight cities.

This is the second acquisition by Knowlarity, which employs about 450 people and has so far raised about $22.5 million from investors Sequoia Capital and Mayfield Fund since it started in 2009.

TOKO Innovation gets an angel groups’ investment of 3 crores

Children's entertainment portal Imaginry, run by Bangalore-based Toko Innovations Studios Pvt. Ltd, has raised Rs 3 crore (around $450,000) from angel investors led by RoopakSaluja, founder and CEO of The 120 Media Collective, and Vishal Khare on behalf of Indian Angel Network (IAN).

Rajasthan Angel Investor Network (RAIN) also participated in the angel funding round. The funding will be used for product development, user growth and content partnerships, a company statement said.

“We realised that children’s entertainment in India is still at a very nascent stage – so there is a huge market gap to be filled. With Toko, we aim to create a platform and a collaborative ecosystem that will revolutionise Indian children's entertainment,” said Aditya Mukherjee, co-founder and CEO, Imaginry.

Locus raises $2.75 million from Exfinity Venture Partners and others

Bengaluru-based logistics management platform Locus has secured $2.75 million in series A funding, led by Balakrishnan V's Exfinity Venture Partners, along with Blume Ventures, BeeNext and Rajesh Ranavat, the managing director of Hong Kong PE firm Fung Capital.

Locus which helps firms such as food-delivery services, e-commerce players and even courier services to optimise their logistics by helping dispatch, track and manage their delivery agents will use the funds to strengthen its technology offerings and expand its team.