Cloud telephony firm Knowlarity looking to raise $15M to enhance technology and expand globally

Gurgaon-based cloud telephony firm Knowlarity Communications Pvt Ltd is looking to raise around $15 million in a fresh round of funding to expand to overseas markets, such as Middle East and Latin America, and also to enhance its technology. The company is already in talks with various investors and expects to close the round by October-November this year, Knowlarity co-founder Ambarish Gupta told Techcircle.in.

"We are in talks to raise a fresh round of funding, which will be used to expand our international presence in markets such as Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. A part of the funding will also go towards enhancing the technology which will help us take the business to the next level to become a global player," he said.

The development was first reported by The Economic Times, which said Knowlarity has already appointed Signal Hill to run the mandate.

According to Gupta, the company has already bagged a few clients in overseas markets, where it is looking to set up offices. "We have just started the expansion and are doing pilots with a few clients in some markets. However, our key market remains to be India where we have close to 5,000 customers."

Founded in 2009 by IIT-Kanpur graduates Ambarish Gupta and Pallav Pandey, Knowlarity provides voice and data communication services over the internet to companies and individuals in India and Indonesia. The company's product range includes SuperFax, SuperReceptionist, SuperConference and SuperCaller. For larger enterprises, it is providing hosted IVR solutions integrated with its existing IT systems.

Currently, the firm operates in more than 65 countries and is on course to reach an annual turnover of Rs 75 crore by 2015. Early last month, the firm acquired Delhi-based cloud telephony startup Unicom Techlabs Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition brings Unicom's 200 plus customers in SMB, e-commerce, real estate, healthcare, education and media segments under Knowlarity.

Knowlarity is backed by Sequoia Capital which invested Rs 34 crore in the company in January 2012. Previously, it also raised funding from Emergic Venture Capital. In an interview with Techcircle.in last July, Ambarish Gupta had said that the company was shifting its base to Singapore, owing to a tough market in India. According to him, the Indian cloud telephony market is extremely tough to survive and many players will either shut shop or merge, as SMEs and other enterprises in India are not ready to pay much and many of them have don't have much money.

Early last year, its co-founder and COO Pallav Pandey had quit the company to start a new venture.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)