Digital marketer Mobikon raises fresh VC funding

Digital marketing startup Mobikon Asia Pte Ltd has raised an undisclosed amount in fresh funding from Singapore-based venture capital firms Life.Sreda and Qualgro Pte Ltd.

Mobikon said it will use the money to create new technological infrastructure and provide restaurants with better products and faster upgrades. It will also spend part of the capital to set up an office in Jakarta and hire staff for its UAE unit, in line with its global expansion plan.

Mobikon, located in India and Singapore, offers a customer engagement platform for quick-service restaurants and food chains.

Life.Sreda is a fund that focuses on financial-technology firms while Qualgro invests in technology, education, healthcare and logistics sectors. As part of the deal, Qualgro director Heang Chhor will join Mobikon's board.

Samir Khadepaun, co-founder and CEO of Mobikon, said the VC firms bring in a huge network of mPOS (mobile point of sale) and cloud POS players, which will help Mobikon to scale quickly.

An alumnus of Monash University, Khadepaun said the company will soon launch a new platform focused on restaurant social engagement.

The funding comes after Mobikon in July secured $2.3 million from Jungle Ventures and other investors. In August, Mobikon had acquired Singapore-based Trii.be, a platform which gives restaurants an analytics dashboard to browse customer experience and satisfaction metrics.

The company said that the Trii.be acquisition propelled Mobikon's revenue from international markets to 55 per cent from 40 per cent and expects it to reach 65 per cent by the end of this financial year. The company is targeting 200 per cent growth in revenue this year.

Khadepaun, who had earlier worked with I-Connect, founded Mobikon along with Salil Khamkar in 2009. The company is headquartered in Singapore and also has offices in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Surat.

The startup has a digital platform for customer engagement and provides a single dashboard for a spectrum of restaurants—quick service, fine dine, casual dine and cafes. Mobikon's solutions allow clients to engage their customers with integrated services across ordering, reservations, feedback and marketing. Mobikon claims its platform garners nearly 65,000 reviews a month.

The company counts among its clients Copper Chimney, Pind Balluchi, Little Italy and Pizza Express in India, and Swensens, Red Crab Group and Select Group internationally.