Shopholix Raises ₹1.5 Crore in A Pre-Series A Round Led By Munesh Khanna

Shopholix, a fashion & lifestyle couponing platform for brick & mortar stores, has recently raised an impressive sum of ₹ 1.5 crore in a Pre-Series A round of funding led by veteran investor Munesh Khanna, with participation from other investors in India and abroad. Along with its plans to expand its geographical reach, the start-up will utilise the funds to enhance the product, strengthen its partner network, and organise overall operations by March 2018.

Founded by Hemant Upadhyay, Abhinav Midha, and Chinmay Bhatt, Mumbai headquartered Shopholix is a location based mobile app and web interface that enables shoppers to locate, explore and plan their shopping trips. The company offers offline retailers a unique opportunity to interact with digital shoppers, and leverage the incoming traffic of users on the platform through coupon redemptions, digital payments, and point of sale systems. Moreover, the platform seamlessly integrates with any brand’s retail CRM to help bring existing customers on board to the Shopholix platform, thus enabling them to experience the next level of retail shopping.

Mr. Abhinav Midha, Co-Founder, Shopholix commented, “The common entrepreneurial vision shared by the entire team of Shopholix is scalability, both of the product, as well as operations. Hence, it became imperative for us to seek strategic investors who can not only bring their knowledge of growing businesses on board, but also help us with their wide network in the industry. Mr. Khanna, as an experienced professional and investor, brings with him these very credentials, and we are extremely delighted to have him on board as a mentor to the company.”

On the investment in Shopholix, Mr. Munesh Khanna said, “Shopholix has grown exponentially thanks to its innovative business model and by leveraging digital tools and technologies for offline retailers. Moreover, by tapping into a largely unexplored segment like offline retail with its focused digital marketing solutions, the start-up is well on its way to becoming a market leader in the segment. I’m confident of its growth trajectory and pleased at the opportunity to offer my assistance and insights to its talented leadership team.”

Currently live in Mumbai, Shopholix allows shoppers to discover deals and discounts from around 2,000 local stores, and redeem mCoupons at the retail outlets of popular fashion and lifestyle brands, all on the platform. The company plans to bring on board 10 lakh total users, and achieve profitability with a valuation of INR 100 crores by 2022. It plans to expand its presence across Indian metros and Tier-1 cities, along with major global shopping destinations such as Dubai, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Shopholix was incepted in 2015 and is India’s first fashion & lifestyle couponing platform focused solely on offline retail. Currently live in Mumbai, through the Shopholix platform, shoppers have at their fingertips around 2000+ retail outlets of popular fashion and lifestyle brands which they can virtually window shop, discover discounts from and redeem mCoupons at. Shopholix plans to bring on board 10 lakh + users, and achieve profitability with a valuation of more than INR 100 crore by 2022. Besides partnering with a total of 40,000 stores in the next three years, Shopholix plans to expand its presence across Indian metros and Tier-1 cities, along with major global shopping destinations such as Dubai, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Shopholix Raises ₹1.5 Crore in A Pre-Series A Round Led By Munesh Khanna

Shopholix, a fashion & lifestyle couponing platform for brick & mortar stores, has recently raised an impressive sum of ₹ 1.5 crore in a Pre-Series A round of funding led by veteran investor Munesh Khanna, with participation from other investors in India and abroad. Along with its plans to expand its geographical reach, the start-up will utilise the funds to enhance the product, strengthen its partner network, and organise overall operations by March 2018.

Founded by Hemant Upadhyay, Abhinav Midha, and Chinmay Bhatt, Mumbai headquartered Shopholix is a location based mobile app and web interface that enables shoppers to locate, explore and plan their shopping trips. The company offers offline retailers a unique opportunity to interact with digital shoppers, and leverage the incoming traffic of users on the platform through coupon redemptions, digital payments, and point of sale systems. Moreover, the platform seamlessly integrates with any brand’s retail CRM to help bring existing customers on board to the Shopholix platform, thus enabling them to experience the next level of retail shopping.

Mr. Abhinav Midha, Co-Founder, Shopholix commented, “The common entrepreneurial vision shared by the entire team of Shopholix is scalability, both of the product, as well as operations. Hence, it became imperative for us to seek strategic investors who can not only bring their knowledge of growing businesses on board, but also help us with their wide network in the industry. Mr. Khanna, as an experienced professional and investor, brings with him these very credentials, and we are extremely delighted to have him on board as a mentor to the company.”

On the investment in Shopholix, Mr. Munesh Khanna said, “Shopholix has grown exponentially thanks to its innovative business model and by leveraging digital tools and technologies for offline retailers. Moreover, by tapping into a largely unexplored segment like offline retail with its focused digital marketing solutions, the start-up is well on its way to becoming a market leader in the segment. I’m confident of its growth trajectory and pleased at the opportunity to offer my assistance and insights to its talented leadership team.”

Currently live in Mumbai, Shopholix allows shoppers to discover deals and discounts from around 2,000 local stores, and redeem mCoupons at the retail outlets of popular fashion and lifestyle brands, all on the platform. The company plans to bring on board 10 lakh total users, and achieve profitability with a valuation of INR 100 crores by 2022. It plans to expand its presence across Indian metros and Tier-1 cities, along with major global shopping destinations such as Dubai, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Shopholix was incepted in 2015 and is India’s first fashion & lifestyle couponing platform focused solely on offline retail. Currently live in Mumbai, through the Shopholix platform, shoppers have at their fingertips around 2000+ retail outlets of popular fashion and lifestyle brands which they can virtually window shop, discover discounts from and redeem mCoupons at. Shopholix plans to bring on board 10 lakh + users, and achieve profitability with a valuation of more than INR 100 crore by 2022. Besides partnering with a total of 40,000 stores in the next three years, Shopholix plans to expand its presence across Indian metros and Tier-1 cities, along with major global shopping destinations such as Dubai, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Hong Kong.

#FathersDay - Here're 12 Entrepreneurs Telling Us The Tale of Their Superhero ‘Fathers’

The relationship with your father indeed is the strongest of all and you know him in and out.He was always there as a strong pillar when you needed him, heard you when you were low, praised you on your achievements. Father is not just our guardian but a mentor,24*7 advisor, consultant, problem solver and what not. When you decided to start out on your own, who was the one who believed beyond doubt that you will succeed? Your father, of course. Being an entrepreneur is hard, being a father is tougher. Here are few startup heroes telling us the tale of their superheroes ‘Fathers’.

‘My Father Is A True Source Of Inspiration For me’

For Rishab Malik, co-founder and Vice President-Business Development at Droom his father is the real hero in his life. He shares a special bond with his father as he was the one who instilled in him the importance of discipline and resilience to achieve our goals in life.

“He always taught us to be ruthlessly focused on achieving results, having the highest moral fibre and also having a Plan B or a contingency plan - all traits he himself picked up during his tenure with the Indian Army. Above all, he taught us the importance of having a good attitude and always thinking positive. He is a true source of inspiration for me in all facets of life be it being a sportsman, a professional or a family man,” says Malik.

‘Sometimes you just have to make your own way to get what you want'

Dhruv Mathur, co-founder at Little Black Book after moving back to India wanted to start his own startup in the payments space, called GetFbPay.in. Looking at local experiences through the lens of ticketing and transactions, his first startup gained significant momentum. However, he and his team decided to integrate with LBB in 2015, and you know who helped him in his vision, it was his father.

'Sometimes you just have to make your own way to get what you want' - this is not really a mantra, but a way of operating for my dad. He's always optimistic of getting what he wants, and never deterred if one way to meet an objective doesn't work out. There's always an alternative action to take, always different people to work with to meet your goal. Learning this MO (Modus Operandi) has made me a better founder, helped seal deals, raise funds, and getting the right people for our team,’ says Mathur.

‘Things Do Fall Into Place Sooner Rather Than Later’

Munmun Ganeriwal, a Nutrition and Exercise Consultant after working with renown contemporaries, she followed her dreams and started her own venture to spread the essence of fitness across. But before reaching the heights, Munmun had to face a lot of hardship which at times take her to the verge of quitting. During this phase, it was her father who held her hand and guided her to stay focused towards her goal.

“Everything is hard before it is easy”, my father often said, every time I was on the verge of losing my patience and giving up. It also made me an optimistic person as it implied that things do fall into place sooner rather than later.I have grown up learning the golden mantra from him that “One can excel only when one puts their heart and soul into their work”. Migrating from MIT Engineering College, from a “highly coveted” course to a “not so well known” course to pursue my passion & study Nutrition and Fitness, also work & train clients after college hours to start my professional journey, all at the age of 20, thus came very naturally to me,” says Munmun.

A Perfectionist Father

Chinmay Bhatt strongly believes that entrepreneurs are a product of strong and rooted parenting. They are not people with overnight success riding on an investment betting wave by venture capitalists. They are individuals with immense mental strength and self-discipline.

Bhatt father is very high on self-discipline. He shares that every small task he takes up, he gives it a 100%. Right from filling water bottles, polishing shoes, even fixing a fuse or renovating the kitchen for Diwali. Bhatt says if his father was involved, he would go in the minutest of the details and do it with utmost cleanliness and perfection.

“We were painting a wall together once, he was doing double coats and I was running out of patience (as I had to go to play cricket). When he saw me edgy, he quoted -- I can't sleep well, if deep down my heart I know I could have done it better. Can you? Though perceived perfectionism is a problem for many and holds them back. Time spent with my dad has evolved me to be active and perfection-oriented along with a sensible balancing,” shares Bhatt, Chief Marketing Officer at Shopholix.

‘If Everyone Is Moving Forward Together, Then Success Takes Care Of Itself’

Having grown up on the backseat of her dad's impromptu motorcycle trips and hour long breakfast discussions, Mitali Tandon has been in close proximity of watching her father personal and professional journey of being a successful entrepreneur, a respected industry expert and a great leader. As an entrepreneur, Tandon, every time when she is at a crossroads, she can't help but reflect on the way her dad met his challenges.

“My father doesn't have to try hard really, it's been all the little things that happen on a daily basis that add up to superhero status. One of the biggest take-away's, for me, has been his leadership style. He is the most inclusive and collaborative leader. Everyone that has worked with and around him has been prosperous and grown consistently. His strong vision and ability to carry people has impacted the way I build my team and interact with my partners, an ability that's particularly relevant in today's competitive world. My father and I strongly believe in a quote by Henry Ford - If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” shares Tandon, co-founder of Morning Fresh, post drinking anti-hangover detox drink.

'Be Witty'

Shishir Gupta, CEO at Oakter believes that he has got two most defining traits of his personality from his dad. One is forgetfulness and other is wit. He learned from him that there is only one right perspective to look at this world and life in general and that is the witty perspective.

On asking Gupta about the relationship he shares with his father, he said “I remember an incident, my dad once called one of my friends. He didn't have my dad's number so he asked ‘Aap kaun?' and he replied 'Rishte main to hum Shishir ke baap lagte hain.’ My friend almost died laughing. Both these perspective really helps in a stressful situation as an entrepreneur and help in keep moving forward. One thing that I haven't inherited from him is his altruism.He really makes me wonder how can anybody dissolve boundaries between self and non-self to such an extent. To me, it just looks crazy. Perhaps someday I will grow up to understand.”

‘Never Leave Anything Undone And Incomplete’

FitPass Co-founder, Arushi Verma’s father has given her golden mantra to always believe in herself and never leave anything undone and incomplete. “He told me to focus on my aim to set an example for others. Two years ago when I decided to start FITPASS he asked me to lead from the front and be confident of myself and my decisions.He always showed me a positive way and helped me look at mistakes as lessons in life,” shares Verma.

‘Believe In Yourself’

For Tapan Dixit, CEO and co-founder at Talespin his father has been a huge inspiration to him. The best lesson he has learned from his father is to always believe in yourself. “Looking back, it’s so important than being the best in class or winning every battle. When I was a young boy, I remember my father telling me that there’d be times when I would fail, or when things won’t turn out the way I’d ideally like them to and it’d be in times like these that I’d have to stay strong and believe in myself. Success comes with self-belief and perseverance,” says Dixit.

‘Put Blinders On The Sides That Conspire You To Hold Back’

Surabhi Mittal is the creative trigger behind Revived by Surabhi, a Ghaziabad-based home décor design label that focuses on reviving old traditional techniques and dying arts while celebrating the power of hand making. For Mittal, her father means the entire world.

On asking her, how his father inspired her, she said, “The best advice given by my father was to simply put blinders on the sides that conspire you to hold you back. He constantly reminded me to not think what the world is thinking about you. His golden mantra was that dreams are not what you see in sleep, they are something that does not let you sleep. He used to tell me that you are my fish who will swim in a unique direction and will not follow the school of fish. Following his precious advice and support, I have been able to start my own business and in a continuous process to achieve great heights.''

‘Small Signs Reveals Big Things About People’

Instappy founder Ambika Sharma shares a special bond with her father. Her father has taught her about the small aspect of life which contributes to a greater extent in a life. “He taught me to have strength, to listen, to pay attention to the small signs which reveal big things about people, my love for adventure and above all he taught me that anything is possible to achieve, you have to believe that you can and you have to be willing to work hard for it,” says the founder.

‘Balance Work And Life While Aspiring For Excellence In Both’

For Lakshmi Dasaka, his father has played an integral part in her upbringing. It was her father who helped her to stay true to her goals and manage time effectively and therefore today she is the co- founder of Goodness, that aims to bring the café experience right to your doorstep.

“Being an army officer, my father was very discipline.I have never seen my father complain about his work schedule or pressure. Work truly is worship for him. He is 65 years old and still has a 14-18 hour work day and a very fit and active lifestyle. As an entrepreneur and a mother, this is an everyday inspiration for me to balance work and life while aspiring for excellence in both,” shares Dasaka.

‘Always Be Passionate’

Two years ago when Jimmy decided to start his own business, it was her father who stood by her and told her to respect her decision and never lose faith in what she decided to take forward. He has always been her source of inspiration whenever she face any challenge in her life.

Jimmy Kaul, M.D and co-founder of Shopotox says "The best advice my father ever gave me was to always believe in your instincts and be passionate for what you set to achieve. He said that this is true that there will be many hurdles in the way but never give up and you continue your struggle until you succeed. In life, you need to be strong enough to stand against the odds. He told me to be financially independent to take care of my needs ".So, what are your dad’s mantra which keeps you going? Do share with us in the comment box below. Also, this year do go on a date with your dad and spend some quality time and go down the nostalgic lane while enjoying your meal.

So, what are your dad’s mantra which keeps you going? Do share with us in the comment box below. Also, this year do go on a date with your dad and spend some quality time and go down the nostalgic lane while enjoying your meal.

[Top-most Image - Shutterstock]

Amid E-Commerce, Mumbai-Based Shopholix Is Solving Problems of Brick and Mortar Retailers

From purchasing a lovely boot cut trouser to buying a finely detailed piece of jewellery, shoppers are exposed to a plethora of brands and innumerable options. Every nook and corner of a city has either a shopping mall, a small retail store or an outlet. And every time consumer go to these outlets or stores they notice some of or the other difference in terms of product quality, prices, brands, etc. We often think that the more the options, the better it is. But same time these countless options lead to a perplexed consumer. Once a consumer steps out of his home to buy apparels, it becomes one exhilarating but exhausting trip to so many outlets and malls to get “that one” good fit.

The offline shopping universe is too vast. Hence, Shopholix, a mobile app, curates the offline shopping options available near customers based on their profiles and preferences.

Founded by Hemant Upadhyay, Abhinav Midha and Chinmay Bhatt, Shopholix is a location based mobile and web interface that enables shoppers to locate, explore and plan their shopping trips.

The best part about this app is that you are notified about the related trends offered by the stores near you. Shopholix allows you to virtually browse the latest fashion and stay connected with your favourite stores. The current version of mobile app brings you to the city of Mumbai - where you can discover malls, markets, stores, products, exhibitions, boutiques and much more.

IndianWeb2 interacted with Abhinav Midha, Chief Business Officer at Shopholix to know more about their mission and vision in regards to the startup.

On Starting up

Hailing from Allahabad, for Abhinav Midha entrepreneurial journey started with Café Coffee Day where he built the entire cookie range. He co-founded bowl house in 2008, a chain of Asian cuisine restaurants across West and South of India. He built a strong profitable business which couldn’t scale.

During his Bowl House days, Midha have been an active Zomato advertiser. He noted how an aggregated interface solves a business problem. “Fashion and Lifestyle Category is different in the way it works – primarily consumer psychology and retailer mathematics differs from food and service category. The brick and mortar businesses operate on a digitally isolated platform. Unlike ecommerce, they lack shopper predictability and re-targeting capabilities. The brick and mortar stores lack the ability to engage digitally acquired users. Shopholix is solving a brick and mortar retailer problem – our strong contextual re–targeting is a smart product of technology and business solutioning,” says Midha

There is a lot spoken in the media about retail apocalypse – retailers have to adapt to the new digital wave. Shopholix enables them to adapt and monetize the entries digital opportunity in their brick and mortar stores.

“My entrepreneurial vision is scalability – at Shopholix my focus is to build a scalable product and operations. Entrepreneurship did not just happen to me – it’s the way I look at life, continues learning as we build,” says Midha.

The industry is fragmented with lot of perceived solutions. The problem statement is not clearly understood as the ecosystem is ever evolving. “We live in a reactive culture – the biggest challenge we face is how to craft a proactive solution for a reactive business mindset. To overcome the challenge, we encourage pilots for each client onboarding.” explains Midha.

All About Business And Technology

Shopholix is a B2B company, a proactive CRM software with a shopper interface. They charge Rs 30 per managed (engagement & retargeting) user on the platform. Currently they have over 7 retailers with over 40 stores managing over 40,000 users on the platform. The entire platform is built on MEAN stack. The user interfaces are built on Java, XCode, and HTML 5. the startup claims that platform is seamlessly and securely integrated with multiple 3rd party applications ensuring 360 digital shopper management. Further, high grade encryption ensures data security across ecosystem.

Started with a seed capital of $100,000 in October 2015, Company has generated revenue of over 15 lacs since inception. Currently they are focused on Indian market and have already built a base in Mumbai.

Not A Replacement To CRM

Surviving in the market and dealing with competitors is a challenging task for any startup. The source of competition could be direct and indirect. Shopholix faces direct competition from various CRM applications currently feebly penetrated in the market. Though the solution they offer is not comprehensive, the retailers often hope for a great future (as promised in the catalogues, mostly expected in coming releases).

On asking Midha whether Shopholix is a replacement of a CRM or not, he said, “We are not replacement of a CRM. We are smart layer which sits on top of your current technology architecture. We also face indirect perceived competition from social media, fashion influencers, and hyper local e-commerce companies. There may be some overlap in terms of solution offering, a piece of something we do could overlap with a competitor, but primarily from a solution standpoint Shopholix is a unique offering which is going to be the most penetrated software solution in retail industry.”

Future Plans

Earlier startup had raised $200K to strengthen their product, increase client base and standardize operation by March 2018. Now founders are planning to raise a growth fund of $5 million in April 2018. They are further planning to generate over 3 crore revenue by April, 2018.

“Keeping the enterprise nature of our solution, we are looking at strategic investors who along with the money bring knowledge and market relationships. The average ticket size for the April 2018 fund raise would be half a million USD,” says Midha.

For a startup entrepreneur, early adopters are their actual angels. For next 12 months startup plans to ride along with early adopters and consolidate their product, capabilities and operations. “The best part of the Shopholix journey would be from the growth phase where the speed of growth would be directly proportional with the expansion plans of the clients (retailers). The opening of FDI, positive socio-economic states, stable government would contribute in a great future – a compilation says over 50,000 new brick and mortar stores would open by 2025 only in India. The growth would primarily be driven by tier 2 and 3 cities,” concludes Midha.