Exclusive: Enterprise SaaS startup Bnext pockets first funding cheque

Mumbai-based enterprise software-as-a-service startup Bnext has raised $300,000 (around Rs 2.2 crore) from an angel investor, a top company executive told TechCircle.

Bnext, operated by Retnext Technologies Pvt Ltd, plans to use the money for product development, sales and marketing “to build initial traction”, co-founder and chief executive Dipti Singla said. This is the company’s first round of funding.

She declined to disclose the name of the angel investor. However, the company's website lists eTailing india founder Ashish Jhalani, Landmark Group CEO Ramanathan Hariharan and Multiples PE founder Renuka Ramnath as its investors and advisers.

Singla and her husband Harish Singla had previously founded e-tailing platform Blubox, which had received funding from Jhalani and some other angel investors in 2015.

Bnext is an enterprise SaaS customer relationship management software which connects manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and resellers. It claims it is integrated with social media and messaging platforms to make sharing easier.

The startup was launched by Singla and Sriram Subramanian in January. Singla is an MBA from Hindu Institute of Management at Sonipat in Haryana while Subramanian has a management degree from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Bnext joins a number of SaaS startups that have got funding this year. 

In July, US- and India-based SaaS and technology company TheCapitalNet, Inc. had raised $500,000 (Rs 3.4 crore then) in seed funding. 

In March, UrbanPiper, a SaaS platform that enables web and mobile commerce for hyperlocal retailers, had secured an undisclosed amount in a pre-Series A round of funding from Zoho Corp. co-founder Kumar Vembu and existing investor Axilor Ventures. 

Also in March, Noida-based HMS Infotech Pvt Ltd, which operates SaaS provider Hotelogix, had mobilised $5 million (Rs 32.5 crore then) from investors led by Vertex Ventures. 

Other SaaS startups that got funding this year include Trilyo, which provides artificial intelligence-based SaaS solutions for business-to-business e-commerce clients in the hospitality sector, and US- and India-based Paperflite.

The funding deals are in line with a VCCircle survey in February which revealed that SaaS and cloud-based startups would be the most favoured for investments among venture capital firms in India in 2018.