Kalaari Capital invests $3M in Mumbai-based Big Data analytics startup Germin8

Mumbai-based Big Data analytics firm Germinait Solutions Pvt Ltd, which operates under the brand name Germin8, has raised $3 million in its Series A round of funding from Kalaari Capital. The funds will be used to ramp up the company's sales and marketing activities, as well as expand its operations into international markets, including the US. A part of the funding will also go towards new product development and expanding the R&D team.

"With this investment by Kalaari Capital, we hope to make our technology available to companies outside India as well, even as we aim to consolidate our position in the Indian market," said Ranjit Nair, CEO of Germin8.

The startup was founded in 2012 by the father son-duo of Raj and Ranjit Nair. Ranjit is a PhD in computer science from University of Southern California, while Raj is a strategy consultant and alumnus of IIT Bombay and IIM Ahmedabad. Germin8 helps companies make informed decisions in real time, based on what their stakeholders are saying in the public domain such as social media, news sites as well as emails and chats.

The firm claims that its platform is used across marketing, corporate communications, customer care and sales functions at over 100 brands. Its clients include MTV, Marico, ICICI Prudential, Godrej Industries, Johnson & Johnson and Asian Paints. The firm also serves national and international media and advertising agencies, including GroupM, Publicis, Dentsu Aegis, Rediffusion and Ormax Media.

"Today, no company can afford to underestimate the impact of social media on its business and Germin8 allows companies to monitor, analyse and take the right business decisions in a timely way," said Kumar Shiralagi, MD, Kalaari Capital. "We believe that Germin8 has all the ingredients to be a global player," he added.

Kalaari capital had recently invested $10 million in jewellery e-tailer BlueStone.

Early this month, DataRPM, a Big Data analytics startup selling business intelligence software, had secured $5.1 million in a Series A round of funding from US-based investor InterWest Partners with participation of existing investor CIT Gap Funds. Prior to that, Chennai- and Singapore-based Big Data and analytics startup Crayon Data Pte Ltd had secured 1.5 million Singapore dollars ($1.19 million) in funding led by Singapore-based Jungle Ventures, with participation from Spring Seed Capital.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)