Mobikon raises $7 mn from Sistema Asia Fund, C31 Ventures, Qualgro & others

Mobikon will utilise the funds to scale up business in India, SE Asia, and the Middle East

Mobikon, a marketing and customer engagement platform for the restaurant industry, has raised $7 million in Series B funding from a three-member investor consortium that comprises Sistema Asia Fund, which is the proprietary fund of Russia's largest conglomerate Sistema JSFC, Singapore-based C31 Ventures, and Qualgro. Existing investors Jungle Ventures and Spring Singapore also participated in the round.

Mobikon is planning to utilise the latest round of funding to scale up its business in India, South East Asia, and the Middle East. The company also plans to penetrate deeper into existing markets and build the next level of its leadership team in India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Philippines, Singapore, and new markets like the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia in the next 12-18 months.

In 2015, the company had bagged around $5 million in Series A funding from Jungle Ventures, Life.Sreda, Qualgro, Spring Singapore, and Lion Rock. It had raised seed funding in 2012, the year when it was launched. With the latest round of funding, the total amount it has raised stands at $12 million.

Mobikon has a presence in six countries and serves 700 restaurant brands, with over 3,400 outlets, globally. It is planning to launch operations in the UK and Australia by January 2018 and double the number of restaurants on its platform over the next one year. It currently has a presence in India, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. It has recorded a growth of more than 200 per cent in financial year 2015-2016 and targets to grow at the same rate in the next financial year. The company aims to have a market leadership position in South East Asia by 2019.

Mobikon Co-founder and CEO Samir Khadepaun said that the latest round of funding would help the company to scale faster and strengthen its products across key markets.

"Besides funding, Sistema Asia Fund (SAF) and C31Ventures bring in other distinct advantages. While SAF has great knowledge in building scalable teams, C31Ventures has strong inroads across South East Asia. This would help us in our aim to attain market leadership position in the said geography," he said.

Sistema Asia Fund Advisory Managing Director Dhruv Kapoor said that Mobikon's platform is used by its customer brands to interact and engage with over 8.5 million customers.

"Mobikon Provides a unique platform for F&B outlets to capture data, get feedback, perform analytics, and improve marketing. It helps them to use technology to drive improvements in customer service, marketing, and increase revenue. Larger franchises are also seeing the benefits this can bring to their business and we are excited to be a part of this journey," said Jason Edwards, co-founder, Qualgro VC. 

The company provides a single dashboard for the entire spectrum of restaurant services, including quick service; fine dining; casual dining and cafes; intelligent engagement with customers; integration across ordering, reservations, feedback, payments, and marketing platforms. 

Its clientele includes leading brands like Shakey's pizza in Manila, Bistro Group Manila, Minor Group Singapore, Leopold's of London in UAE, LiteBite Foods India, Pan India Foods, Pind Baluchi, Oriental Group, Billion Smiles, JP group, and Speciality Restaurants, among others.