Superfone Bags Funds To Offer App-Based Telephony To SMBs

Zingbus To Raise INR 59 Cr via Preferential Issue

SUMMARY

Led by YourNest Venture Capital, the round also saw participation from Ankur Capital, Finsight Seed Fund and a clutch of other angel investors

The fresh proceeds will be utilised to acquire national-level telecom licences, hire senior executives, scale up its customer acquisition efforts and shore up its tech stack

Founded in 2021, Superfone claims to replace traditional SIM cards with a fully app-based solution that integrates tools such as lead management, WhatsApp marketing, and AI agents

SaaS platform Superfone has raised $1.9 Mn (INR 15 Cr) in its pre-Series A funding round led by YourNest Venture Capital.

The round also saw participation from Ankur Capital, Finsight Seed Fund and a clutch of other angel investors. Of the total, YourNest infused $950K in the startup as part of its Velocity 2024 accelerator program.

In a statement, Superfone said that the funding will be utilised to acquire national-level telecom licences. A part of the fresh proceeds will also be utilised to strengthen its engineering and product teams with key senior hires, scale up its customer acquisition efforts and shore up its tech stack.

Founded in 2021 by Pradeep Dodle and Nikhil Goenka, Superfone has built a proprietary telecom platform, catering to small businesses, that integrates communication, customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing tools. It claims to replace traditional SIM cards with a fully app-based solution that integrates tools such as lead management, WhatsApp marketing, and AI-powered agents.

“… We’re thrilled to partner with YourNest Venture Capital, whose expertise in telecom and technology will accelerate our vision, and grateful to our early believer Ankur Capital for doubling down on their support,” said Superfone cofounder and CEO Pradeep Dodle.

Superfone has now set its eyes on expanding its footprint to Southeast Asian (SEA) and Latin America (LATAM) markets in the near future.

It claims to have already secured a unified licence with access service for Karnataka telecom circle and a pan-India unified licence (for audio conferencing/ audiotex/ voice mail service) from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

Prior to the current round, Superfone had raised $1.8 Mn in a seed funding round led by Ankur Capital in July 2021.

The development comes at a time when SaaS startups continue to witness heavy traction from investors. Last month, AI SaaS startup Ennoventure bagged $8.9 Mn in a Series A funding led by Tanglin Venture Partners, while ecommerce-focussed SaaS startup BiteSpeed also bagged $3.5 Mn in pre-Series A funding led by Peak XV Partner’s accelerator programme Surge.

As per an Inc42 report, the homegrown SaaS ecosystem is projected to become a $70 Bn market opportunity by 2030.