WebEngage Launches Six-Month Accelerator Program For B2C Startups

WebEngage, a B2C (business to consumer) marketing automation hub for enterprises, has launched a six-month accelerator program for fast-moving startups in the consumer business space. 

According to the company, the initiative — ‘WebEngage for Startups’ aims to help companies achieve their operational and strategic milestones faster.

As part of the programme, member startups will be provided access to the WebEngage platform for six months for free. They will also be able to use WebEngage platform’s message credits worth $20,000 to help them get started. Other facilities such as dedicated success advisors to fast-track integration and onboarding processes for startups joining the accelerator program, providing expert product training and access to in-depth reporting, quarterly business reviews, as well as comprehensive analytics to track campaign performance and business growth. 

The accelerator program will be inducting 50 startups as part of the first batch and will help startups — trigger first-time conversions, improving repeat purchase rate, humanising customer communications, and providing dedicated customer success support to member startups. 

“The vision behind this program is to identify early-stage startups that are potential rocketships and stimulate their journey with WebEngage’s marketing automation platform, propelling them on an accelerated growth trajectory,” says Nitya Shah, lead, startup program. 

WebEngage’s primary selection criteria for its startup accelerator program mandates that the applying startup should be a digital consumer business (B2C company), must not have raised more than $3 Mn in venture capital, shouldn’t be an existing WebEngage customer and shouldn’t be more than three years old. 

The company says that fast-growth startups often run into operational hindrances, and are not able to invest in a robust marketing platform. WebEngage is trying to address that by offering full access to the WebEngage platform along with several value-added features that could accelerate the growth for a select number of startups.

Mumbai-headquartered WebEngage, founded in 2011 by Ankit Ultreja and Avlesh Singh, launched its full-stack marketing automation platform in 2016. The company claims to be servicing more than 300 clients across verticals such as ecommerce, edtech, gaming, media and entertainment, OTT, foodtech, fintech, BFSI and agritech, among others. 

The company employs around 130 people in three locations — Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Some of WebEngage’s clients include Myntra, Firstcry, Cuemath, Goibibo, Groww, LendingKart, EazyDiner and Junglee Games, among others.

In May 2020, WebEngage’s cofounder Avlesh Singh told Inc42 that the Covid-19 pandemic had led consumer brands to realise the importance of engagement-led marketing — to identify, segment and retain their most valuable users. 

“To reach this aim, brands needed to focus on an intelligent communication strategy that builds on their value proposition and enhances the user’s life, and this is what WebEngage is providing to its clients,” he had said. 

“As liquidity dries up quickly, and global recessionary trends hit consumers hard, discretionary spending will reduce dramatically. Consumers will over analyse their expenses and prioritise essentials. In such a scenario, user retention becomes paramount for the growth of businesses in the other segments,” said Priyam Jha, lead, brand marketing at WebEngage.