Ratan Tata backs retail tech startup SnapBizz

Tata Sons' chairman emeritus Ratan Tata has invested an undisclosed amount of funding in retail technology startup SnapBizz Cloudtech Pvt Ltd.

Earlier last month, the startup, which provides an Android-based connectivity platform to local offline grocers, raised $7.2 million (around Rs 48.7 crore) from Jungle Ventures, Taurus Value Creation and other VC firms, to expand across key cities in India.

Before that, the Singapore-headquartered firm, which has an office in Bangalore, received a seed funding of $1.7 million from Qualcomm, Jungle Ventures, National Research Foundation of Singapore, Taurus Value creation and Blume Ventures.

This is the eighth investment in 2016 for Tata, one of India's most active angel investors last year. This year, Tata has also invested in tea etailer Tea Box, coupons site CashKaro, baby products e-commerce site FirstCry, startup analytics firm Tracxn, animal lovers' portal DogSpot, Invictus Oncology and Moglix. He has backed 29 startups since retiring as Tata Group's chief.

"A visionary of Tata's stature showing confidence in SnapBizz is certainly a big boost for our business idea and will continue to accelerate the digital revolution in India's kirana stores," said Prem Kumar, CEO and founder, SnapBizz, in a statement.

Founded in 2013 by Prem Kumar and Yashwant Prakash, SnapBizz aims to develop a mobile technology platform to connect the various stakeholders of a fragmented retail market ecosystem. Prakash, who was serving as the COO, quit the firm in December, as per his LinkedIn update.

SnapBizz's Android-based, cloud-connected solution in the form of a tablet, barcode scanner, printer and a consumer-facing LED display enables merchants to manage their billing inventory and customer engagement.

SnapBizz currently works with over a thousand kirana stores across Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore and aims to expand its footprint across tier 1 and 2 cities.