Exclusive: DIY mobile app maker forBinary raises seed capital

Mumbai-based do-it-yourself (DIY) app maker platform forBinary has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from JRS Investments and other angel investors, a top company executive told TechCircle.

The company will use the funds to accelerate its growth and expand product offerings, Shrey Singh, co-founder of forBinary said.

The startup offers a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that allows business-to-business (B2B) enterprises go mobile instantly, without needing to write codes. Primarily targeting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the platform provides ready-to-use modules on communications and processes that enable enterprises to create and customise their mobile solutions to cater to a range of use-cases.

forBinary was founded by a group of IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi alumni—Anish Sankhe (chief executive), Ashish Ranjan, (tech head) and Singh (chief business officer).

“Organisations, especially SMEs and others who are short of funds or technologically behind, can address their communications and process challenges effectively and inexpensively by creating custom mobile solutions through our platform,” Sankhe said.

The platform is used by MSMEs and large enterprises to create custom mobile solutions for different use cases including customer management, employees and dealers/distributor engagement and data collection. Government bodies and miscellaneous organisations like NGOs, communities or associations use it to create solutions for civic engagements, surveys and data collection.

It supports eight regional languages, works offline and has a light SDK (software developer kit) for economy smartphones.

Currently, the platform focuses on developing mobile apps, but it plans launch various other mobile solutions including progressive web apps and mobile enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications to expand its tech offerings.

“We are working on having the progressive web apps facet attached to our platform in 6-12 months. In the next 18 months, once we have more feature modules and integrations on our platform, we will be able to create an all-income business suite that’s specifically designed for MSMEs. After that’s established, we will introduce mini mobile ERPs,” Singh said.

Launched in 2016, the company had only about 2-3 clients for about a year when its focus was more on ideation and conceptualisation of its future course of action. “90% of our client base was acquired in the last 11-12 months,” he added.

forBinary acquires clients primarily via online marketing and through its reseller channels.

The company claims to have over 40,000 app users from solutions created on its platform by over 220 clients. According to Singh, 83% of the applications developed on its platform are multi-lingual and 76% of its clients are from Tier II to III cities.

JRS Investments Private Limited is a Mumbai-based angel investment firm launched by Jayont R Sharma, former founder and CEO of video games retailer Milestone Interactive Group.