Almonds Ai Bags INR 16 Cr To Offer Loyalty Programmes For Brands

SUMMARY

Led by the promoters of Haldiram’s and JIIF, the round also saw participation from Venture Catalyst, Ever Grow Capital, Nine ALPS, among others

The startup will use the funding to accelerate growth, invest in AI-driven innovations, and expand operations beyond India

Founded in 2020, Almonds.ai enables its clients to offer loyalty and rewards programmes to their channel partners like retailers, drivers, mechanics, among others

Channel loyalty and rewards platform Almonds.ai has raised INR 16 Cr in a seed funding round led by the promoters of snacking giant Haldiram’s and JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation (JIIF).

The round also saw participation from Venture Catalyst, Ever Grow Capital, Nine ALPS, KLJ Group’s Hemant Jain and OfBusiness cofounder Nitin Jain.

The startup will use the funding to accelerate growth, invest in AI-driven innovations, and expand operations beyond India. Almonds Ai also plans to invest a chunk of the capital to invest in R&D, expand the team, and enhance its product offerings.

“A part of the funding will be used in the development of AI agents, LLMs, for creating loyalty recommendations, and personalisation features for our client,” Almonds Ai cofounder and CEO Abhinav Jain told Inc42.

Founded in 2020 by Jain and Apurv Modi, Almonds.ai enables its clients to offer loyalty and rewards programmes to their channel partners like retailers, drivers, painters, and mechanics, among others. It claims to work with 100+ distribution-led companies, helping them cater to their more than 6 Mn partners. The startup also helps brands transition from offline events to virtual experiences.

Almonds Ai counts the likes of Coca-Cola, Haldiram’s, and PropTiger among others, as its customers.

It also offers an AI-driven sustainable loyalty programme called Green Loyalty. “We’ve built an ecosystem around green loyalty programs that allows brands to incorporate eco-friendly and sustainable items as part of their rewards,” Jain added.

Commenting on the company’s expansion plans, Jain said that Almonds Ai has already launched operations in Dubai and signed a partnership with a major HoReCa channel partner in Singapore to bolster its presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia regions.

“Dubai was chosen for its role as a business hub for over 32 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and its cultural alignment with Indian business practices,” quipped Jain.

Almonds Ai includes the likes of Capillary Technologies, EasyRewardz and Channelkonnect as its competitors.

In FY24, Jain claims that Almonds Ai reported a revenue of INR 35 Cr, with a 12% EBITDA margin. The company projects FY25 revenue to surpass INR 200 Cr, with a target of 15% EBITDA.

For FY23, the company earned INR 19.2 Cr in revenue against a net profit of INR 2.3 Cr, according to data intelligence platform Tofler.

Notably, the Indian B2B channel partner loyalty market is valued at around INR 24,000 Cr and is experiencing an annual growth rate of 15%.