Enterprise analytics startup Pragmatix raises $2.4M from SIDBI

Business intelligence and enterprise analytics startup Pragmatix Services Pvt Ltd has raised Rs 15 crore ($2.4 million) from SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

Pragmatix will use the money to build new data models, invest in platform development and drive expansion into new geographies, as per a press statement. This is the first time Pragmatix is raising capital from an eternal investor.

"The valuation is respectful of the credentials of the founders, the intellectual property they have built, the traction that Pragmatix has and will have in future and the global horizons ahead of it," said Anant Sarma, CEO, SIDBI.

The investment was made through SIDBI's sector-agnostic India Opportunities Fund (IOF). IOF was floated in 2011 to provide growth capital to micro, small and medium enterprises operating in emerging sectors such as light engineering, cleantech, agro-based industries, logistics, infrastructure, educational services and IT/ITES.

Founded in 2011 by former Citibank employees Alok Rastogi, V Dinesh, Ashish Vora and Ramesh Lakshminarayanan, Pragmatix is a business intelligence and analytics firm. Its provides solutions related to customer retention and profitability, sales force effectiveness and productivity, fraud identification and prevention, product functionality and marketing effectiveness, payments spend, risk management, operational efficiency and risk analytics.

An alumnus of IIM Kolkata, Rastogi spent 12 years at Citibank across multiple functional areas. Vora has worked with Citibank and Kotak Mahindra while Lakshminarayanan was head of technology infrastructure for India sub-continent at Citibank, in his last role.

A chartered accountant by qualification, Vora spent over a decade at Citibank in diverse roles within the corporate and investment banking unit.

Pragmatix, which also has operations in North American and United Arab Emirates, counts Vodafone India, RBL Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Citibank North America and EMEA as clients.

"We aim to configure a solution customised for each client based on modular, IP-centered data models and software blocks, cutting down time required for deployment," said Lakshminarayanan, co-founder of Pragmatix.

Pragmatix employs 80 people and aims to add more in six months. Mosaic Capital Services acted as exclusive advisor to Pragmatix on this deal.

In addition to the India Opportunities Fund, SIDBI operates three funds—Samridhi Fund, SME Growth Fund and National Venture Fund For Software and IT Industry (NFSIT).

Last month, it invested an undisclosed amount in online printing solutions startup Printland.