M-Commerce Provider JiGrahak Raising Fresh Round Of Funding

Helion Venture-backed mobile commerce provider JiGrahak Mobility Solutions, which operates under the brand 'ngpay', is looking at a fresh round of fundraising.

The company is in talks with a number of venture capital firms, such as Nexus Venture Partners, to scoop up around $10 million or Rs 45 crore to fund its expansion plans, a financial daily has reported quoting sources.

If Nexus Venture Partners decides to go ahead with the deal, the outcome might be quite interesting as the investment firm had previous exposure to this space and invested in mChek. In addition, it has existing investments in companies such as Snapdeal.com, What's on India and Vdopia, among others.

JiGrahak Mobility Solutions had launched 'ngpay' over three years ago through which it provides end-to-end mobile commerce services in India. The company claims to have a subscriber base of more than one million.

"There has been a lot of traction in our business and it is a market which will grow pretty fast," Sourabh Jain, founder and CEO of JiGrahak, was quoted as saying.

By availing 'ngpay', users can buy train, bus and air tickets, recharge their phones, pay bills and bank from any basic mobile handset. They can also transact with 200-plus partners across 10 sectors, with certified financial grade security.

In 2006, Helion Venture Partners had invested $2.2 million (around Rs 10 crore) in JiGrahak Mobility Solutions for an undisclosed stake.

Investors are now betting on the increasing use of mobile phones for financial transactions, thanks to the availability of inexpensive yet feature-rich smartphones. The mobile Internet user base in India is expected to touch the 46 million mark by next month, of which 35 million will be active users (i.e., accessing the Internet via mobile phone at least once a month), according to a joint report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and market research firm IMRB.

Incidentally, the number of claimed mobile Internet users has risen to nearly 35 million while the number of active users has also increased to 26.3 million by March, 2011.