Reliance Industries acquires Blume Ventures-backed SaaS startup NowFloats

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has acquired a majority stake in NowFloats Technologies, a SaaS company that helps small businesses set up an online presence.

Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited (RSBVL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, has acquired an 85% stake in NowFloats for Rs 141.64 crore (about $20 million at current foreign exchange rates), the company said in a stock exchange filing.

RSBVL also said that it would make an additional investment of up to Rs 75 crore ($10.5 million) in the company by December 2020 to take its shareholding in NowFloats to 89.66%.

Reliance Industries said the investment will further enable the group’s digital and new commerce initiatives.

NowFloats was founded in 2012 by Jasminder Singh Gulati, Neeraj Sabharwal, Nitin Jain and Ronak Kumar Samantray. It provides app and web presence through its product Boost, which allows businesses to update their websites. The company also provides location-based search engine optimisation for these businesses to drive traffic to the physical stores and e-commerce services.

Its product offerings also includes local content discovery platform, online business management suite, website promotion and marketing solutions.

The company offers services to companies across a range of sectors including spas and salons, food and beverages, manufacturing, hospitality, education, clinics and hospitals. It also caters to individual medical practitioners.

The company registered net revenues of 32.56 crore and net losses of Rs 43.24 crores in FY19 against Rs 18.73 crore in revenues and Rs 47.49 crores in losses in the previous year, the filings revealed.

In its most recent fundraising, NowFloats secured $3.6 million from existing venture capital investors Iron Pillar, IIFL and Omidyar Network as well as a new Malaysian investor, consulting firm Wenlyn Global Group.

Previously, the company had raised a bridge round last year from Omidyar, Iron Pillar and IIFL. In 2017, the company had raised $10 million in a Series B round.