BSB And Y2CF Announce Partnership For Hyper Local Commerce

Bharti Softbank (BSB), a 50:50 JV between Bharti Enterprises and SOFTBANK CORP focused on mobile internet, announced that it has partnered with Gurgaon (India) based mobile start-up firm Y2CF Digital Media Pvt. Ltd. (Y2CF)to launch the world’s only mobile device-agnostic location based service.

Y2CF and BSB have developed the location based check-in service that works across all mobile devices, with the aim to build the hyper local commerce ecosystem in India, wherein consumers get to explore rewards and offers available with brands and merchants in their vicinity. The BSB-Y2CF partnership plans to launch this service under the ‘hoppr’ brand name. Under the partnership, BSB has taken an equity stake in Y2CF with the option of acquiring majority stake in the company.

BSB, which began operations in October 2011, aims to actively participate in the growth of mobile internet in India with focus on Social Media, Gaming and Commerce verticals.

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Kavin Bharti Mittal, BSB’s Head of Strategy and New Product Development said, “When we look at the e-commerce space in India, we see enough companies doing a good job of solving the problem of online retail. India has over 900 million subscribers that are always connected to a network but there still doesn’t exist a quick and simple way to find what they’re looking for offline in the world around them. This is the unique opportunity we see, in creating a bridge between the Online and Offline worlds. We believe such a platform could also help organise the vastly unorganised merchant base by connecting them with consumers who have such devices near them.”

Y2CF has already tied up with mobile service providers – Airtel, Aircel, Idea, Reliance, Tata Docomo and Vodafone - for ‘hoppr’, which will initially cover 3000 retail outlets/locations focused in top 4 cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru, and offer customers great rewards and special services on the go.

Md. Imthiaz, Founder and CEO, Y2CF said, “Mobile is the most powerful personal device carried by every consumer. We have seen mobile growing from a pre-dominant voice usage to being used for accessing information on a real-time basis. ‘hoppr’ will make sure that there isn’t a dull moment in the life of a consumer. hoppr’s location specific communication of rewards and coupons will bring alive a hyper local commerce platform which will benefit both consumers and merchants alike.” He further added, “We are very excited partnering with BSB and believe their experience in the mobile internet space will help us build a phenomenal service and add value to our business.”