Former PepperTap execs’ SaaS startup Anaek secures seed funding

Delhi-based chatbot developer Anaek Soft Pvt. Ltd has raised seed funding from venture capital firm Matrix Partners India, the startup’s co-founder told TechCircle.

Kanav Abrol said the software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup will use the funds mainly to develop better technology and for marketing. He didn’t disclose the amount raised.

Anaek builds chatbots on top of messaging apps for workplace. It automates routine business processes related to human resources and administrative functions such as staff attendance, time tracking, expense filing and office management.

The startup was founded by Abrol and Ujjwal Singh Grover in February 2017. Both founders have an engineering background. They first met in 2012 while working at US-based social networking firm LinkedIn. More recently, they worked at on-demand grocery delivery startup PepperTap. Grover headed engineering and Abrol led the product and design functions at PepperTap, before leaving the company in 2016. Anaek launched its first products in late 2016.

Abrol in a statement separately that the idea for the startup originated after the duo realised that employees often don’t use the HR systems. “For example, I had to often manually collate the leave requests from my team from across email, WhatsApp and text messages and then submit those in our official HR tool. So, the tools in fact added more paperwork. We hated the idea of ‘doing work about work,’” he said.

Tarun Davda, managing director at Matrix Partners India, said instant messaging has permeated workplace communication across markets, paving the way for seamless employee interactions. “Anaek’s enterprise chatbots help employees complete routine business processes in a simple and efficient manner,” he said.

Matrix Partners manages Rs 4,500 crore in assets. The firm’s most well-known bets are in the consumer-technology segment where it has backed cab-hailing app Ola, online classifieds firm Quikr and digital health platform Practo, among others.

Anaek joins several startups such as Niki.ai, Bottr.me, AskArvi and Active.Ai, which create artificial intelligence-based chatbots, in raising funding.

Last week, Trilyo, which provides AI-based SaaS solutions for business-to-business e-commerce clients in the hospitality sector, raised $250,000 (Rs 1.6 crore) in funding.