Thursday, November 24, 2016

Pioneer of cloud telephony in emerging markets, Knowlarity, raises Series C round of $20 million led by Delta Partners

Asia’s largest Cloud Telephony Company’s Series C round also saw participation from existing investors Sequoia India and Mayfield Fund
New Delhi, November 24, 2016: Knowlarity, the leading cloud communications platform in emerging markets across Asia, has announced the successful raise of $20 million in its Series C funding round. The latest investment in Knowlarity, which is Asia’s largest cloud telephony company, was led by Dubai-based private equity firm Delta Partners. The round also saw participation from Knowlarity’s existing investors, Sequoia India and Mayfield, and included a small debt-based investment from Blacksoil and Trifecta Capital. Signal Hill, a leading independent M&A and private capital advisory firm was the exclusive financial advisor on this transaction. The latest investment takes the total funds raised by Knowlarity so far to $41 Million USD making it the most capitalised cloud telephony company in Asia.
The involvement of Delta Partners, which has a deep domain expertise in telecom technology in Africa and the Middle East, as well as its existing investors, underlines the trust that Knowlarity has generated in the global market. The funds raised would be used by Knowlarity to expand into other international markets, make acquisitions and invest in advanced technology products for its customers.
Speaking on the investment, Ambarish Gupta, Founder & CEO, Knowlarity, said, “The success of the latest funding round is a strong indication of the trust our investors have in our vision as well as in our strong focus on robust unit economics, which has seen us recently achieve EBITDA breakeven. We are excited about the investment and the quality of investors coming on board. With the domain expertise they bring on-board, we are confident that we will be able to provide even more innovative Consumer to Business Communication solutions to businesses around the world and establish ourselves as global leaders in the segment.”
Dominic Halfpenny, Partner at Delta Partners Capital, commented, “Knowlarity has established itself as the leading player in the Consumer to Business Communications industry in India, and is now exporting this expertise internationally, thanks to its superior product and relentless focus on customer service. The way customers and businesses communicate is in the midst of a profound transformation, enabled by new communication channels and the advent of Artificial Intelligence. In an age when customers’ demand for immediacy and first-class service is at an all-time high, those businesses with most efficient interactions with clients will benefit from unparalleled superiority in the market. We are excited to participate in this fascinating and fast-evolving industry and look forward to actively supporting the management team at Knowlarity reach the next level of growth both in India and internationally, in the Middle East, Africa and South-East Asia.”
Klaas Oskam, Managing Director of Signal Hill, commented, “We are excited to have acted as the financial advisor on this Series C round of financing for Knowlarity, after having worked with them for their earlier funding round as well. This transaction is testimony to the fact that quality businesses with strong underlying unit economics will continue to find growth capital even amidst more challenging funding environments. Kudos to Ambarish and his team on achieving this major milestone, which will enable Knowlarity to further cement its market leading position in the Indian cloud telephony market as well as accelerate its international expansion.”
Having pioneered the technology of PSTN cloud telephony in India, Knowlarity currently serves more than 15,000 customers across several emerging markets. The company will look forward to keeping up its aggressive growth and expanding into more markets in the future as it sets its sights on becoming a leading global name in communications technology.
About Knowlarity:
Knowlarity is the pioneer and leading provider of cloud based communications solutions to businesses in the emerging markets. A Singapore based company founded in 2009, Knowlarity’s products and services are actively adopted by more than 2 million users and is the largest provider of such services. Reflecting the true spirit of the ‘Make in India, for the world’, Knowlarity’s mission is to transform the business to customer communication industry in the emerging markets with personalization, automation, AI and analytics. Knowlarity’s flagship product is ‘Super Receptionist’, a plug-and-play virtual contact center for a business. The company and has grown from scratch to a global venture with 300+ employees, 1000 partners and 8 offices in India, South East Asia and Middle East. Continuous innovation and excellence has led to Knowlarity receiving many awards and recognition such as the Amazon Excellence Award, Silicon India Startup of the year, Nasscom Emerge 50 and more from media and industry. The company is also backed by marquee investors like Sequoia India and Mayfield fund. Some of the key customers include Google, Amazon, Uber, Practo, Ola, Zomato, Swiggy, Gaadi among others.
About Delta Partners Capital
Delta Partners Capital is the investments arm of Delta Partners Group Limited, the leading emerging markets-focused telecoms, media and digital advisory and investments firm. Delta Partners Capital invests in growth capital opportunities in the telecommunications, media and digital sector across Africa, Central & Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South-East Asia.
About Signal Hill
Signal Hill, named 2015 Boutique Technology Investment Bank of the Year by the Global M&A Network, is a leading advisory boutique serving the M&A and private capital raising needs of growth companies. Signal Hill’s experienced bankers provide deep domain expertise and an unyielding commitment to clients in our sectors: Internet & Digital Media, Internet Infrastructure, Services and Software. With more than 600 completed transactions and offices in Baltimore, Bangalore, Boston, Mumbai, Nashville, New York, Reston and San Francisco, Signal Hill leverages deep strategic industry and financial sponsor relationships to help our clients achieve Greater Outcomes®. For more information, visit www.signalhill.com.

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