IntelligenceNODE raises $4M from NEA & Orios

Big Data analytics startup for retailers IntelligenceNODE Consulting Pvt Ltd has raised $4 million (Rs 26 crore) in a Series A funding round from New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Orios Venture Partners.

The company, which helps retailers with pricing and merchandising analytics, will use the funding to expand its client base and augment the technology team, as per a press statement.

"We are providing intelligence that reduces the typical merchandising cycle from six months to 10 days by extracting trends from high velocity unstructured data, resulting in both margin and bottom-line gains for clients," said Yasen Dimitrov, co-founder and COO of IntelligenceNODE.

The Mumbai-based startup was founded by Dimitrov and Sanjeev Sularia in August 2012.

IntelligenceNODE claims its platform simplifies the entire retail life-cycle by providing retailers with tools to analyse data and make more informed buying decisions. A member of IBM Global Entrepreneurship Program and SAP Start-Up Focus, IntelligenceNODE has clients in India, Europe, South East Asia and North America.

IntelligenceNODE competes with the likes of Boomerang Commerce and Indix. Indix had recently raised $15 million in Series B funding from Nokia Growth Partners, Nexus Venture Partners and Avalon Ventures in June.

"What appealed to us was that IntelligenceNODE has been able to address the most difficult problems in retail analytics through a productised approach. Its technology enables brands and retailers, especially in the fashion and accessories categories, to harness the full power of analytics which was a pain point earlier given the non-standardised nature of products in these categories, unlike electronics or FMCG products," said NEA's Tarun Sharma.

NEA has a broad strategy and invests from seed to growth equity stage, but its Indian investments have been mostly at the mid-stage VC investment stage. It is looking to come in as an early-stage investor as part of its tweaked investment strategy.

NEA, which raised a record $3.1 billion early this year across its new flagship fund and an associated 'opportunity fund', has already invested in

half-a-dozen Indian firms since January, many being additions to its portfolio.

NEA recently put money in Mumbai-based Baldor Technologies Pvt Ltd that runs IDfy.com, an online platform providing verification services to help users manage their profiles.

Mumbai and Bangalore-based Orion Venture Partners has made over 35 seed and Series A type investments in Indian startups. The VC firm recently hit the road to raise $150 million (about Rs 950 crore) in its second fund, less than a year after raising Rs 300 crore (about $50 million) in the first outing.

It recently put money in hyperlocal delivery startup Pickingo along with Toppr.com co-founder Zishaan Hayath, as part of a $1.3 million funding round.