Location Intelligence Startup Data Sutram Secures Funding From Varanium Capital, Yatra Angel Network

Kolkata-based location intelligence startup Data Sutram has bagged a $2.07 Mn funding led by Varanium Capital and Yatra Angel Network to expand into new geographies and sectors. The funds will be used to build and enhance new and existing products.  

The round also saw participation from DMI Finance’s Sparkle Fund, White Ventures, Seeders LLP, notable angel investors from the banking and financial sectors, and existing investors — IIFL Fintech Fund and Indian Angel Network.

Founded in December 2018 by Rajit Bhattacharya, Aisik Paul, and Ankit Das—engineers from Jadavpur University, Data Sutram is an artificial intelligence (AI) platform. “It studies the behaviour of people (consumers) based on their location using data from more than 250 sources, however they do not have access to any personal information,” the startup told Inc42.

These three batchmates started Data Sutram in their final year of college after skipping placements with stiff resistance from their families. The idea was to make insights readily available for every address in India, the startup said.

The AI-enabled startup provides sector-focused data packages that help companies acquire customers, understand the credit risk at an address level, open ATMs, branches, stores, plan resources, do competitor benchmarking and enhance their overall growth strategy.

Data Sutram is looking to scale its operations to Southeast Asia and the Middle East and further invest in new data sources. The startup has also raised INR 2 Cr from Indian Angel Network in August 2020, INR 25 Lakh from 100xVC in December 2019, and some undisclosed amount from IIFL Fintech Fund in October 2021. 

India is home to the fastest-growing data science communities. “But without the right data, all these AI & ML models are going to be ‘garbage-in and garbage-out. With Data Sutram, the idea is to create actionable data that people can act on and make decisions that give an incremental lift to businesses,” said Rajit Bhattacharya, cofounder, CEO of Data Sutram.

The proprietary AI and Machine Learning (ML) driven data engine automatically converts raw and unstructured data from satellites, mobile phones, POS machines, and other sources to create insights that capture how people live and behave, available for any location up to 100m granularity, according to the startup.

The insurance and banking sectors have been showing significant shifts during the last decade. This brings in a growing need for fintech and traditional companies to use alternative intelligence and enhance customer acquisition, credit underwriting, and distribution planning, said Aparajit Bhandarkar, partner, Varanium NexGen Fund, adding, “DataSutram is addressing these challenges and is playing an active role in bridging this gap.”