Airtel Acquires Stake In Lemnisk To Build World’s Largest Customer Data Platform

Telecommunications major Airtel has acquired a strategic stake in marketing automation platform Lemnisk for an undisclosed amount. The deal will likely enable Airtel to leverage Lemnik’s expertise and talent pool in the market automation space to scale its own in-house offerings. 

The move will also allow the startup to share its technologies across Airtel’s 350 Mn retail customers and more than 1 Mn clients.

As part of the deal, the two parties will work together to build the world’s largest customer data platform, which will be deployed across Airtel’s multiple digital verticals such as Airtel Ads (adtech), Wynk Music, Airtel Xstream (digital entertainment) and Airtel Thanks (online marketplace).

In a statement, Airtel said that it plans to scale the service to its enterprise customers via its integrated Cloud-Platform-as-a-Service  (CPaaS), Airtel IQ. According to the company, the platform will enable its clients to create a nimble, scalable, and omnichannel engagement for its customers.

“We are delighted to welcome Lemnisk into the Airtel Startup accelerator program and be a part of our digital innovation engine. We see great potential in this alliance and together with Lemnisk we aim to create (the) world’s largest CDP platform. Lemnisk’s real time marketing automation engine is a natural fit for us, where over 350 Mn customers interact with brands daily through multiple touch points,” said Airtel Digital’s chief executive officer (CEO) Adarsh Nair. 

Echoing similar sentiments, Lemnisk’s CEO and cofounder Subra Krishnan said, “There is really no global parallel for what Airtel wants to achieve, and that is inspiring for us. Airtel’s ambition aligns with our vision to offer a single frictionless platform to super large enterprises that both organises and activates high volume and high velocity data. We are looking forward to achieving great things together.”

The stake sale was undertaken under Airtel’s Startup Accelerator Program. The initiative operates under the aegis of Airtel Digital, which invests in early-stage startups working in areas in which Airtel operates. Under the programme, the telco offers startups a slew of sops such as funding, mentorship and access to Airtel’s global strategic partners. 

Founded in 2019 by Subra Krishnan, Rinku Ghosh, and Praveen DS, Lemnisk is an AI-backed marketing automation platform that allows enterprises to deploy customer data from multiple sources across different marketing channels to deliver personalised marketing communication to potential customers. 

The startup last raised $2.3 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Growx ventures, Artha Venture Fund, and DSP Investment Managers last year.

Lemnisk claims to have generated more than 25 Bn impressions till date, while processing over 30 Mn data points across 51 decision making variables. The startup’s portfolio comprises clients such as Emirates NBD Bank, RAKBANK, insurance company AIA Philippines, and Bajaj Finserv, among others. 

Lemnisk has offices in Bengaluru, Boston, Singapore and Dubai. It competes with players such as WebEngage, Gamooga, and Xeno, among others.

With customers increasingly turning online for their purchases, companies have ramped up their focus on scaling their marketing strategies. This has given rise to personalised and automated marketing platforms. 

As a result, the martech space has grown manifold in the past few years. As per a report, the global marketing automation space is expected to grow from $5.2 Bn in 2022 to $9.5 Bn in 2027.

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