Capillary Technologies on Wednesday announced the raising of approximately $20 million over the past year from its existing investors, including Warburg Pincus and Sequoia Capital. The cloud-based software solutions startup uses artificial intelligence to enable top retailers such as Walmart, Starbucks and Dubai-based Al-Futtaim to smartly engage with their customers.
With these funds, Capillary expects to strengthen its new product development, powered by AI and Machine Learning catering to Asia and other upcoming emerging markets. The company said it also plans to invest in the newly launched Consumer Goods vertical with its solutions.
“More than 70% of these funds would be [spent] on AI and machine learning products,” said Aneesh Reddy, co-founder and CEO of Capillary Technologies. “We have a 25 member team for it. We are also funding a research team at IIT-Kharagpur.”
The firm would also use the money to further strengthen its presence in China and the Middle East, besides penetrating further into Southeast Asia. The company said it will soon be opening its second office in China in Guangzhou and then another one in Beijing later this year.
“We are pleased to continue to be a part of the company’s journey as the team further scales the business,” said Vikram Chogle, Principal, Warburg Pincus, in a statement.
Reverse innovation
Capillary, founded by IIT-Kharagpur graduates Aneesh Reddy, Krishna Mehra and Ajay Modani, launched the firm in India to solve the key pain points of the local retailers. Its innovation which helps retailers understand customer purchase behaviour through artificial intelligence later found the market in other countries.
Capillary’s technology has now been used by more than 300 top brands across 25,000 stores in over 30 countries to enable easy and seamless consumer experiences. Some of them include Pizza Hut, Giordano, Bata and Puma. The firm expects to achieve a revenue of $100 million in the next three years, according to Mr. Reddy of Capillary.