Lookup, a mobile based local commerce messaging app has raised $3 million in Series A round of funding from number of investors, including Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter. As a part of the deal, he has also joined the team as an adviser.
Other investors in the Series A round are not yet disclosed. The amount invested by Biz Stone is also unannounced. Earlier, the company raised $382K in seed funding from investors like Kris Gopalakrishnan, Teru Sato, DeNA and MKS Group – Switzerland.
With this new funding, the company is now looking to expand its service to other markets. It is also planning to integrate more offline businesses into the online world and connect them to their customers.
Excited to join @deepakravindran in his next act, @lookup_ Such an amazing person and inspiring entrepreneur. http://t.co/kuVMO1hFae
— Biz Stone (@biz) May 20, 2015
Commenting on the future plans of the company, Deepak Ravindran, CEO of Lookup, said,
“We plan to integrate all the offline businesses into the online world and connect them to their customers. We aim to be the one stop app that satiates all the needs of our customers.”
Lookup was founded by Deepak Ravindran with an aim to bring the power of technology into the hands of every small business owner to help them connect with customers effortlessly. It enables customers to chat securely with local store owners without having to disclose their number. Its mobile application is currently available on Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
The app allows users to make a reservation with a restaurant, book an appointment at a spa or salon, find out the product availability at a shop, find out regarding the availability of a service at a local shop, inquire prices of products or services, inquire about the store timings, etc.
Users can find out businesses from a list of categories, including restaurants, pubs, grocery stores, spas, medical shops, car and bike dealers, schools, gyms, pet stores, electronics & mobile shops, florists, jewellery stores, clothing stores and many more offline stores.
The company claims that over 3,00,000 messages are being exchanged every month and it has generated over 1,00,000 leads to local businesses. It has over 10,000 verified merchants on its platform. Within 5 months of launch, its app has been downloaded over 2,00,000 times.
Other major players in this space include Haptik and Ashoka. Haptik raised $1 million in November last year, while Ashoka raised $16 million yesterday, valuing it at around $70-80 million.
