Ratan Tata invests in retail tech start-up SnapBizz, his 8th investment in 2016

Bangalore-based retail-tech startup SnapBizz has announced that it has raised funding from Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons. In January 2016, SnapBizz had announced a Series A funding of $7.2 million led by Jungle Ventures, Taurus Value creation, Konly Venture and Blume Ventures. [caption id=“attachment_2622162” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons[/caption] This is Tata’s eighth investment this year after investing in seven companies – DogSpot.in, Tracxn, CashKaro, FirstCry, Teabox , Moglix, Invictus Technology. Tata has invested in over 20 home-grown start-ups in the past 18 months, including data analytics start-up Infinite Analytics Inc., online marketplace Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd), digital wallet provider Paytm (One97 Communications Ltd), cab hailing service Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd), and online lingerie store Zivame (Actoserba Active Wholesale Pvt. Ltd). SnapBizz currently works with over a thousand kirana stores across Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore and aims to expand its footprint across other tier 1 and 2 cities, according to a company press release. “We are privileged to have Tata as an investor at SnapBizz. As one of the most respected names in corporate India, Tata brings a rich legacy of doing business with a human touch. This reflects in his investment in SnapBizz as we have begun a humble journey of reverse marginalisation of SMB’s and driving digital inclusion in the large consumer goods industry. A visionary of Tata’s stature showing confidence in SnapBizz is certainly a big boost for our business idea and will continue to accelerate the digital revolution in India’s kirana stores. Brands are also seeing this an opportunity to partner with us in order to be a well wisher of the retailers ‎and get the share of mind of the retailer to appropriate the positioning as the company that cares for the retailers“, said Prem Kumar, CEO and founder, SnapBizz.   Snapbizz is on a mission to transform the face of small-scale retail sector in the country and empower kirana stores not only to be competition ready but to have a competitive edge by making them ‘Virtual Super Markets’. Snapbizz solutions are designed and developed with an in-depth understanding of business process of the kirana store that is reflected in its simplicity and ease of use. Its unique ability to create virtual shelf space attracts additional income to retailers from companies that want to merchandize and contextually engage customers in-store and out of store. It also enables smart store management and a digital connection to consumers, FMCG companies and distributors.