text: Marketplace Startup m.Paani Raised $1.35 Million of Pre-Series A Funding – Indian CEO
  Marketplace Startup m.Paani Raised $1.35 Million of Pre-Series A Funding
  Loyalty Reward and Marketplace startup m.Paani have bagged $1.35 Mn (about INR 9 Cr) in its Pre-Series A round of funding led by IDG Ventures, Blume Ventures and Saha Fund. Previously in April 2016 the startup raised an undisclosed amount of Seed funding from Blume Ventures.
  The Mumbai based startup was founded in 2014, by Akansha Hazari. m.Paani is the first mobile-based loyalty and data solution enterprise for the mass-market consumer in emerging economies. The data collected by the Startup gives 360° view of the daily lives of a segment that is offline and do cash transactions. This enables to deliver unparalleled intelligence and brand loyalty to partners. They design rewards and innovate new products tailored to serve the underserved and overlooked consumers.
  Akansha Hazari, CEO and founder said: "Our loyalty platform is the critical digital pipe that enables our partners to understand and target mass-market, unorganised consumers in real-time to serve them intelligently for long term basis. Through continuous innovation we aim to bring big data to the informal economy, delivering intelligence to brand clients."
  m.Paani operates through its official website and personalised application. The startup has about 50 employees working on the operations. The new funds will be used for product development, scaling technology, data science and expand through investments in sales and marketing.
  Sanat Rao, Venture Partner at IDG Ventures India said: "70% of India's consumers historically have been outside the formal economy. With the limited information available regarding their consumption needs and purchase patterns, m.Paani's platform brings these consumers into the digital world and allows brands to understand and engage these customers via data science insights. We are very excited to partner with m.Paani to build India's first mass-market consumer data platform."
  m.Paani is the only startup that builds the depth of intelligence about mass-market consumers in India. They power brands to target the market and build loyalty in the segment using real-time data. The startup will be leading the Indian Consumer growth story and will render a real time impact on the retail and consumer behaviour across the masses. Read more about Indian Startup Ecosystem.