Indian CRM Firm Raises US$9m In Series B Funding
India-headquartered CRM vendor CustomerAsset has ended its latest round of funding to come away with US$9 million, a figure triple the amount it received in its last funding round.
CustomerAsset managed to raise US$5 million from U.K.-based Antfactory, and US$2 million each from e-Ventures (Rupert Murdoch's new media investing affiliate) and Jumpstartup Venture Fund, an early stage fund focused on the IT and technology-enabled sectors.
This series B funding was generated to accelerate CustomerAsset's expansion of its offshore contact center operations in Bangalore, in addition to establishing its presence in Australia and ramping up its services in the U.S. and U.K.
According to K. Ganesh, CustomerAsset's chief executive officer, the company expects to complete its second contact center facility in Bangalore by the first quarter of next fiscal year, increasing the total number of seats from 650 to 1,000.
The US$9 million second-round funding brings the total amount CustomerAsset has generated to US$12.3 million. It is the first time Jumpstartup has made an investment in the CRM space; the US$45 million fund backed by financial institutional investors from Asia, Europe and the U.S. looking to invest in ventures based in India, as well as those that have an Indian affiliation.
“We believe Jumpstartup will provide tremendous value to our operations through their excellent understanding of the CRM services segment. This investment further endorses our potential and will be a key driver in our growth phase,” Ganesh said.
He added that he envisions the current economic slowdown to drum up more business for India as more companies choose to outsource their CRM functions.
