Lightspeed invests $3M in hyperlocal discovery platform Magicpin

Lightspeed India has put in $3 million (around Rs 20.6 crore) in former principal Anshu Sharma's hyperlocal discovery platform Magicpin in a Series A round of funding.

Magicpin, run by Samast Technology Pvt Ltd, is a platform where users can discover restaurants and events, and interact with merchants in their region. The platform also provides real-time promotions, loyalty programmes and content updates.

The company claims to drive $1 million of monthly gross merchandise value (GMV) to local merchants. The startup operates in Delhi-NCR, Jaipur and Bangalore, covering 30,000 merchants.

The startup was founded by Sharma and Brij Bhushan in August 2015, when it was incubated by Lightspeed.

Sharma, CEO of Magicpin, has an MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad and has previously worked with Aricent, Bain and Lightspeed. Bhushan is an alumnus of IIM Bangalore, and has previously worked with Bain in both India and abroad. He was also involved with Nexus Ventures as an investor and in a leadership role.

"The firm has extensive learnings and insights from its early investments in LivingSocial (US) and DianPing (China) that inform our view of the correct strategy in India," said Bejul Somaia, MD of Lightspeed India, in a statement.

Lightspeed's early stage consumer investments in India include Oyo Rooms, Limeroad and Craftsvilla. Lightspeed Venture Partners has invested over $3 billion under management with teams in the US, India, Israel and China.

The restaurant discovery space has many players such as Zomato, while the hyperlocal event dicovery space has recently funded players such as Explara.