Facebook & Twitter investor Ecosystem Ventures invests in price discovery startup Simplibuy

Pune-based Simplibuy Technologies Pvt Ltd, whose WiC platform helps users discover attractive prices, products and stores in select cities, has raised an undisclosed amount from Silicon Valley-based seed stage investment firm Ecosystem Ventures.

When contacted by Techcircle.in, Simplibuy spokesperson confirmed the funding but declined to come up with further details.

The news was first reported by NextBigWhat.com.

Set up in 2010 by BITS Pilani alumnus Arun Purohit and software specialist Rajeshwari Joshi, WiC (abbreviation for Where is the Cheapest) provides a web-based price comparison and discussion platform for users to share cheap pricing, products and sellers. Using this platform, one can search for products across various categories in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Kolkata.

The platform works on two key concepts – user-generated content and vendor-submitted pricing. When a user submits the price of a product, the system assigns a default reliability value, depending on the credibility of the user. Other users can validate it as right or wrong and depending on that, the reliability value keeps changing. Users can also quote 'wished' (desired) prices through Simplibuy's 'iwant' feature. One can also win various price suggestion contests, earn credits for his/her action and redeem those credit points for prizes.

In May this year, Mumbai-based Pricebaba (www.pricebaba.com) also launched a local price search engine that helps real world shoppers to search prices in their vicinity.

Ecosystem Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital and strategy consulting firm that focuses on commercialising companies with European ties who are interested to expand in the US and Indian markets. The company also has offices in Zurich and Delhi. Ecosystem Ventures' portfolio companies include social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and white-label app store platform Appstores.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)