Messaging App Haptik Raises $1 Million in Funding

Mobile consumer help messenger app Haptik said on Wednesday it has received its maiden funding, a $1 million (Rs. 6 crore) infusion, from the venture capital fund Kalaari Capital.

"The funds will primarily be used for scaling the app across India, building the chat operations centre, and developing new product features that continue to change the way consumers get help for products and services," it said in a statement.

Haptik is a mobile phone application that enables users to get help for products and services using messaging as a communication channel. The company employs an in-house team of experts who have domain knowledge on 180 countries in 12 sectors like telecom, electronics, banking and e-commerce to offer advice to users.

Using the iOS or Android app, users can send a query related to any company, and wait for a reply. The company statement said the average response team for a query is less than four minutes. Launched in April this year, the team has processed over 5 lakh messages till now.

"Messaging is one of the fastest growing communication channels in history, given its convenient asynchronous nature", said Rajesh Raju, Managing Director at Kalaari Capital, whose portfolio includes companies like Snapdeal, Myntra, Urban Ladder, Magzter, Swipe and Apalya.

"Combine that with the fact that the current means of getting help via phone and online are cumbersome and often frustrating, we believe the Haptik messaging concierge solution could revolutionise the way we look at customer service," Raju added. "The service could eventually evolve into a full blown mobile personal assistant across products, services and geographies. We are truly excited to partner with a great team in Aakrit and Swapan in redefining this space."

Written with inputs from PTI