AI-powered sales startup 19th Mile bags angel funds from HNIs

Artificial intelligence-based sales acceleration software platform 19th Mile has raised $180,000 (Rs 1.2 crore) in angel investment from high-net-worth individuals, the company said in a media statement.

The key investors include Rishi Vasudev, vice president of fashion at Flipkart; Excelsior Investments; Ritesh Vohra, partner at IDFC Real Estate Fund; Praveer Kumar, chief technology officer at payments solutions startup Finxera; Prashant Gupta, head of engineering at Finxera; and a few others, the statement added.

Run by Gurugram-based 19th Mile Capability Solutions Pvt. Ltd, the company was founded 2015 by Vijay Gogoi, who worked at consultancy giant Accenture before starting up. An electronics engineer from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela and MBA from MDI, Gurgaon, Gogoi has 19 years of experience in management consulting, sales, talent development, and general management, and has been a technology entrepreneur for the past two years.

The company will use the funds to strengthen its product, bolster its technology team, and will launch brand awareness initiatives in India and other international markets, the statement said.

“We have 20 customers as of now, which are mostly small and medium businesses while there are a few large enterprises too. We have grown over 10 times in the past three years and expect to cross Rs 20 crore revenue in the next three years,” Gogoi said.

19th Mile helps field sales agents track their targets, provides warnings if they are short, and offers data-driven analytics about their performance. The software also helps automate routine tasks, sets notifications and reminders, and also operates as a fully functional sales customer relationship management (CRM) tool.

“Traditional CRM systems are designed for the CXO. While the new cloud solutions provide technology to teams, there was nothing for the sales representative in the field. Because of that, the adoption rates never went beyond 30–40%. 19th Mile focuses on the seller, thereby making it very sticky with users. We have seen a usage of 80% or more on a weekly basis,” Flipkart’s Vasudev said.

Other deals in the space

A number of startups offering sales solutions and customer management platforms have attracted investor interest recently.

Late last month, Frontdesk AI, an artificial intelligence startup which offers automated customer service software, raised $1.1 million (Rs 7.54 crore) in seed funding led by Bengaluru-based early-stage investment firm Speciale Invest.

Early last month, DigiConnectt, an AI startup that offers sales analytics and enablement solutions, raised $125,000 (Rs 83.75 lakh) in seed funding from US-based transport management solutions company Aspire Logistics LLC.

In April, Hyderabad-based Krisam Software Pvt. Ltd, which operates sales-tech startup Hyperdata.IO, raised Rs 50 lakh ($75,000) from Singapore-based CCube Angels Network.

In March, ZineOne Inc., an AI-powered customer engagement platform, raised $2.5 million (around Rs 16 crore) in a Series A funding round led by impact investor Omidyar Network.