Geospatial Intelligence Startup Intents Mobi Raises Rs 1.5 CR on Podcast "The BarberShop with Shantanu"

Intents Mobi CoFounders Tabrez Alam & Naresh Kumar Kachhi

• Raises funds on “The Barbershop with Shantanu”
• Funds will be used to ensure continual growth of products
• To invest in data & solutions – main aspects of the product
• Looking to raise $ 3 million for expedited growth

Intents Mobi, a Gurgaon based geospatial intelligence startup today announced that it has raised Rs 1.5 CR. The funding was raised on “The Barbershop with Shantanu”, a podcast show helmed by Shantanu Deshpande, Founder – The Bombay Shaving Company. The round saw participation from prominent executives from various organizations.

Founded by Tabrez Alam, Naresh Kumar Kachhi, Balasubramaniam S and Prakash Velusamy, the company is now 19 people strong with 13 members purely focussing on the technology development. With a small team, the company has been able to create AI based technology to process large scale data. Their engines gather and process road data worth more than 4.5 crore kilometers per day with more than 5 terabytes of image data processed each month. The company utilises a network of ‘Scouts’ which is a gig economy of over 900,000 users who contribute to the data generation for location intelligence.

Speaking on the occasion, Tabrez Alam, Founder - Intents Mobi, said, “The new funds will be utilised to ensure the continual growth of products. We shall invest in the two major aspects of the product, which are data and solutions. With this round we expect to launch 2 new products that are aimed at making location intelligence accessible to Market Research and Fleet Management companies"

Elaborating, Shantanu Deshpande said, ‘Tabrez and Naresh are building a disruptive technology company out of India and it is very exciting for us. They have credibility as founders, knowledge of the space and drive. We are thrilled to partner with them on this journey.’

Intents Mobi will deploy the current fundraise to ensure ongoing pace in it’s continual growth. The company is also looking at raising 3 million dollars for expedited growth. Intents Mobi has some of the biggest names in various industries as their clients, including Here Maps, TomTom and Honda among others.

About Intents Mobi:

Founded by Tabrez Alam, Naresh Kumar Kachhi, Balasubramaniam S and Prakash Velusamy, Intents Mobi is a Geospatial Intelligence startup. With a team of 19, the company utilises a network of ‘Scouts’ which is a community of over 900,000 users who contribute to the data generation for location intelligence.

Bombay Shaving Company Gets $2.3M in Pre-Series A Round Led by Fireside Venture Fund

Bombay Shaving Company, a brand known for its men's consumer care products, has announced that it has raised $2.3 million in a pre-series A round led by Fireside Venture Fund. The round has seen participation from 9 existing investors including S Ramadorai, former CEO at TCS, Pankaj Gupta, Supply Director at USL Diageo and some senior partners at McKinsey & Co who wished to not be named. The company plans to use the capital to fuel branding efforts, new product development and expansion into offline sales channels like salons and supermarket chains.

"Our vision at Bombay Shaving Company has always been to create beautiful, experiential products for men. This fund raise and the investors who have joined us will help us build a direct to consumer FMCG company for an audience that is fast becoming very sophisticated," says Shantanu Deshpande, CEO. Prior to founding Bombay Shaving Company, Deshpande was a consultant at McKinsey & Co where he spent significant time serving clients in the FMCG and retail space.

Launched in June 2016, Bombay Shaving Company introduced a shaving-only portfolio which included pre-and post shaving products as well as a double-edged razor with copyright design. In one year, the company has acquired 20000+ customers and is doubling every quarter. It recently forayed outside shaving with the launch of its exfoliating soap range for men. Reviews of the products reflect a loyal following, especially among younger people who are looking for differentiated offerings.

"Young men in India are demanding more thoughtfully designed products and a wider range of options. In one year, the Bombay Shaving Company team has been able to build out a brand with emotional appeal, an engaging story and early signs of loyalty. We believe the market opportunity is tremendous as men have begun investing in the products they use and the 'grab and go' mindset is on the decline. With expansion into more categories and an aggressive sales team, there is enormous potential to build a large, premium brand for men's products" says Kanwaljit Singh, founder of Fireside Ventures.

"They have displayed an appetite for expansion. The tie-up with Affinity Salons has allowed for effective trials with target customers while the launch in US has given them instant access to a large market. They are now eyeing offline shelves in India and there are some interesting tie-ups in the pipeline," said S Ramadorai, who has backed the company since day 1.

In August 2016, the company had raised $650K from a clutch of high profile angel investors.

The men’s grooming space has seen quite a bit of action in the past with Unilever's $1 bn acquisition of Dollar Shave Club in June 2016. Bombay Shaving Company has also seen early strategic interest from large FMCG companies who are looking to enhance their digital capabilities and get access via direct to consumer platforms, said Deshpande.

Bombay Shaving Company Gets $2.3M in Pre-Series A Round Led by Fireside Venture Fund

Bombay Shaving Company, a brand known for its men's consumer care products, has announced that it has raised $2.3 million in a pre-series A round led by Fireside Venture Fund. The round has seen participation from 9 existing investors including S Ramadorai, former CEO at TCS, Pankaj Gupta, Supply Director at USL Diageo and some senior partners at McKinsey & Co who wished to not be named. The company plans to use the capital to fuel branding efforts, new product development and expansion into offline sales channels like salons and supermarket chains.

"Our vision at Bombay Shaving Company has always been to create beautiful, experiential products for men. This fund raise and the investors who have joined us will help us build a direct to consumer FMCG company for an audience that is fast becoming very sophisticated," says Shantanu Deshpande, CEO. Prior to founding Bombay Shaving Company, Deshpande was a consultant at McKinsey & Co where he spent significant time serving clients in the FMCG and retail space.

Launched in June 2016, Bombay Shaving Company introduced a shaving-only portfolio which included pre-and post shaving products as well as a double-edged razor with copyright design. In one year, the company has acquired 20000+ customers and is doubling every quarter. It recently forayed outside shaving with the launch of its exfoliating soap range for men. Reviews of the products reflect a loyal following, especially among younger people who are looking for differentiated offerings.

"Young men in India are demanding more thoughtfully designed products and a wider range of options. In one year, the Bombay Shaving Company team has been able to build out a brand with emotional appeal, an engaging story and early signs of loyalty. We believe the market opportunity is tremendous as men have begun investing in the products they use and the 'grab and go' mindset is on the decline. With expansion into more categories and an aggressive sales team, there is enormous potential to build a large, premium brand for men's products" says Kanwaljit Singh, founder of Fireside Ventures.

"They have displayed an appetite for expansion. The tie-up with Affinity Salons has allowed for effective trials with target customers while the launch in US has given them instant access to a large market. They are now eyeing offline shelves in India and there are some interesting tie-ups in the pipeline," said S Ramadorai, who has backed the company since day 1.

In August 2016, the company had raised $650K from a clutch of high profile angel investors.

The men’s grooming space has seen quite a bit of action in the past with Unilever's $1 bn acquisition of Dollar Shave Club in June 2016. Bombay Shaving Company has also seen early strategic interest from large FMCG companies who are looking to enhance their digital capabilities and get access via direct to consumer platforms, said Deshpande.

Bombay Shaving Company Raises $650K in Seed Funding from 25 Angel Investors

Founded in October 2015 by former McKinsey consultant Shantanu Deshpande and 3 others, Bombay Shaving Company is an online company designing and selling high quality shaving products under their brand name.

Men’s grooming is a 1.5+ Bn USD market growing at ~25% CAGR. Among the fastest growing categories in consumer care, the space has seen large players over invest in the past 4 years. Nivea, Garner, Emami, Godrej, Dabur, Park Avenue and many more FMCG companies are focusing on this segment. The growth is due to many factors such as rapid urbanization, increased access to running water, changing nature of jobs, increased tendency to lifecast on social media, selfie culture and overall the increasingly discerning nature of today’s male consumer. This has led to many new startups entering the fray as well.

In addition to Shantanu Deshpande, the founding team includes Raunak Munot, former Director of Social Strategy at GroupM North America, Deepu Panicker, alumnus of IIT Bombay and former Supply Chain Specialist at McKinsey India and Rohit Jaiswal, alumnus of IIM Udaipur, formerly in rural marketing, sales and distribution channel development at EMEL Group, Nigeria.

Bombay Shaving Company’s vision is to disrupt the FMCG industry and own the men’s grooming category through creating thoughtfully differentiated products, internet first brands and intelligent data based subscriptions.

The company raised USD 650K from a clutch of 25 high profile angel investors constituting 11 senior partners from McKinsey, 6 current and former CEOs, and 8 VC professionals in their personal capacities. The list boasts of names including former Vice Chairman of TCS and advisor to the Prime Minister Mr. Subramanian Ramadorai and McKinsey India MD Mr. Noshir Kaka.

Mr. S Ramadorai says, “The team has developed a very high quality shaving system. It's not easy to get the razor technology right. Anyone can import a razor and sell it. But to design it takes a lot of time, effort and expertise. This is their differentiation and entry point. I have tremendous confidence in them having seen their speed of execution and detail orientation.”

Bombay Shaving Company offers an end to end shaving system as a one-time regimen followed by a subscription service. "Our subscription engine is extremely flexible. Users can choose their products, frequency of refills and pause/cancel/restart the plans anytime. We have a partnership with PayTM that allows for auto debit from users wallet after notifying him so that the user does not have to login or enter OTP every time. It is a hassle-free and seamless experience." said Deepu, Co-Founder and Head of Product Operations.

The company pays extra attention to detail while making their products. "We have almost 45 partners who work with us to design our products. We control every element of the value chain - be it industrial design, packaging, fragrance or raw material. We are deeply embedded in the product creation process and own the copyright to the products. Since these are not traded products, it helps us to get good margins with the right quality." says Rohit Jaiswal.

The team spent 6 months developing the products and launched them online in the month of June 2016 on their website. The company is seeing 40% growth month on month and despite the high price point, good traction even amongst the price sensitive segments. They are now planning to diffuse into other categories, list on online platforms through brand stores as well as enter offline retail in the next 12-18 months.

"Bombay Shaving Company has healthy profits and not a single return till date. Customers are loving and encouraging our cool alternative to a boring, monopolized product. This is a long term play to build a strong and aspirational FMCG brand online. Marketing and distribution barriers have lowered significantly and digital and social outreach can be efficiently utilized for sales and promotions. This industry is bound to get disrupted and Dollar Shave Club 1 Bn USD acquisition by Unilever is just the start." says a hopeful Shantanu.