Reliance-Owned SaaS Startup NowFloats Converts Into A Public Company

SUMMARY

The startup has changed its name to NowFloats Technologies Ltd from NowFloats Technologies Pvt Ltd earlier

NowFloats converted into a public company to comply with markets regulator SEBI’s regulations which require subsidiaries of a listed company to convert into a public company

NowFloats, which helps small and medium businesses build online presence, was acquired by Reliance Industries in 2019

Reliance Industries-owned SaaS startup NowFloats has converted itself into a public company, according to the startup’s regulatory filings.

Following this, the startup has changed its name to NowFloats Technologies Ltd from NowFloats Technologies Pvt Ltd earlier.

NowFloats converted into a public company to comply with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI’s) regulations which require subsidiaries of a listed company to convert into a public company. However, NowFloats has no immediate plans to list on the stock exchanges.

The development comes almost 20 months after Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) acquired a 85% stake in NowFloats for $20 Mn.

Apart from NowFloats, RIL has acquired many other tech startups, such as omnichannel fashion platform Fynd for $42.33 Mn and chatbot startup Haptik.

Besides, NowFloats has also appointed Ronak Kumar Samantray, Nitin Jain and Ravi Karia as directors of the company, as per the filings.

Founded in May 2012 by Neeraj Sabharwal, Nitin Jain, Ronak Samantray, and Jasminder Gulati, NowFloats helps small and medium businesses (SMBs) build online presence in the market.

It offers a slew of services such as an online business management suite, local content platforms and marketing solutions, among others.

In 2017, NowFloats secured $10 Mn in its Series B funding round from investors – Pillar Capital, IIFL’s Seed Ventures Fund, Blume Ventures and Omidyar Network. Excluding RIL’s investment, the startup has raised a total of $17.4 Mn funding.

In the financial year 2020-21, NowFloats posted a consolidated loss of INR 3.89 Cr as against a loss of INR 11.57 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, its operating revenue declined to INR 9.61 Cr in FY21 from INR 22.29 Cr in FY20, according to Tofler.

As per a report, India’s deeptech market is gradually expanding and the number of startups operating in the sector has surged 3.5X since 2017. Besides, the sector is also witnessing a positive investor sentiment as fundraising activities have grown by 2X since 2017.