Exclusive: Retail-tech startup ShoppinPal gets funding from PayPal backer, Steelhead Ventures

Retail-tech startup ShoppinPal has raised around Rs 7 crore ($1.07 million) in its Series A round of funding, the Pune-based company's co-founder said.

Sriram Subramanian told TechCircle that the startup secured money from investors led by Plug and Play Tech Center and Steelhead Ventures. Three angel investors based outside India, including one in the Middle East, also participated in the round, he said.

The firm aims to use the funds to get more retailers on board and develop products. A part of the money will go toward marketing and brand building.

ShoppinPal, operated by Fermyon Pvt. Ltd, helps retailers and brands increase sales by connecting them with online marketplaces. It integrates offline players with global retail systems to enable digital and mobile experiences without disrupting their operations.

The startup was founded in 2015 by Subramanian and Pulkit Singhal. Subramanian, a management graduate from University of California, Berkeley, has about 10 years of experience in product management, engineering operations and software development. He previously worked as a senior product manager at PayPal. Singhal has a postgraduate degree in computer science from New York University and worked at Hewlett Packard as a software design engineer before launching ShoppinPal. The founders worked on ShoppinPal for about two years and launched the US-based Fermyon Inc in 2013.

The firm had earlier raised about $500,000 in a seed round of funding from a group of undisclosed angel investors based outside India. These investors included Adam Pisoni, the founder of ABIL Schools. Pisono in 2008 co-founded Yammer, which was later acquired by Microsoft for $1.2 billion.

"We are trying to replicate the US success in the Indian market and there is a lot of potential," Subramanian said.

ShoppinPal claims to be working with top online marketplaces in India and leading global point-of-sale (POS) companies such as Vend.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Plug and Play Tech Center is a network of serial entrepreneurs and strategic investors. The incubator and accelerator has previously backed companies including PayPal, Google and DropBox.

"ShoppinPal's platform connects retailers and brands to the digital world and helps them further enhance sales. We see a huge potential for them in India and are confident that with support they will replicate their overseas success in the country," said Alireza Masrour, managing partner at Plug and Play.

Steelhead Ventures is a micro venture capital fund focused on seed-stage and Series A investments.

Another retail-tech startup in India that recently secured funding is SnapBizz Cloudtech Pvt Ltd. It raised $7.2 million from Jungle Ventures and others in January and subsequently received the backing of Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata.

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