Exclusive: Traveller assistance app India Assist raises $1 mn seed round

India Assist, a mobile app that aids foreign tourists in the country, has raised $1 million in a seed funding round from an undisclosed Silicon Valley based angel investor. 

"We will use the funds to enhance the user experience through tech innovations and also add new product offerings, marketing and promotion through digital and partner mediums," India Assist founder Harish Khatri told TechCircle, while declining to disclose the identity of the investor.

Available on Android and iOS, the app helps foreign tourists with local information via call and chat services and ground assistance for medical emergencies and other exigencies, including theft and loss of personal belongings. It acts as an intermediary that helps connect the person in distress with the appropriate agencies.

Delhi-based India Assist Insights, the company that owns the app, was founded in 2017 by Khatri and Moqierish Tak. Both earlier worked in the sports and entertainment sectors. Khatri spent about 15 years managing big-ticket events and also worked with the Indian Premier League’s Deccan Chargers team where he managed sponsorships for the cricket franchise. Tak formerly worked with the Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010, and Lusofania Games, Goa 2013.

The startup’s app provides online services in all major cities across the country. The ground assistance services are currently available only in New Delhi. It plans to launch ground assistance services in other cities by the end of 2019. Next on the agenda are Jaipur and Agra. 

It is also setting up  business process outsourcing units in order to provide solutions to users instantly. "Our aim is to have ground personnel within a 5 km radius to be able to provide services to our users travelling within the cities," said Khatri.