Food retail analytics platform Jolly Food Fellow raises pre-Series A funding

Ahmedabad-based TECHRECO Solutions Pvt Ltd, which operates an analytics driven marketing platform for food retail vendors called Jolly Food Fellow, has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A funding from Janak Parikh, managing director of Malibu Group.

The funds will be used for product development and expanding operations, the company said in a statement.

"What excites us is the quality and thinking of the entrepreneurs, domain knowledge and execution skills. Unlike uni-dimensional food tech startups, this business has innovative solutions," said Janak Parikh.

Founded in 2015 by Niraj Harlalka, Rajiv Sharma and Khushboo Sharma, Jolly Food Fellow is a SaaS based marketing and branding platform for food retail vendors. The company facilitates customer loyalty management, analytics-led engagement and a scalable branding platform for small to large sized food retail vendors and retail chains.

On the consumer side, the platform gives access to a list of curated menus from selected food joints and food delivery players. A mobile-first platform, Jolly Food Fellow's web version will be rolled out by the end of April. The platform has tied up with more than 50 vendors and hopes to bring on board more than 500 by the end of 2016.

Niraj Harlalka, co-founder of Jolly Food Fellow, said the company's services will be present in all the top 10 metros by the end of 2016. Currently present only in Ahmedabad, the next port of calls are Surat and Baroda.

According to Harlalka, the Indian food services market is currently estimated at $50 billion. An accountancy graduate and an NIIT alumnus, Harlalka has 18 years of experience in software product development, mobile applications, digital marketing and administration. A mechanical engineer from IIT-Kanpur, Rajiv Sharma was running Joules, a juice café chain based out of Ahmedabad prior to this venture. An IT engineer by qualification, Khushboo Sharma takes care of the marketing side of the venture. She had earlier founded Zero Gravity Communications, a strategic branding and creative consulting company.