Canvera, an online photography service platform, has raised $2.2 million in a fresh funding round from Info Edge, the parent company of Naukri.com. The investment was made in the startup at a pre-money valuation of Rs. 75 crore.
With this round of funding, the total investment of Info Edge in Canvera is over Rs. 90 crore and it now holds 49 percent stock of the company on a fully converted and diluted basis.
The Bangalore-based startup was founded in 2007 by Dhiraj Kacker and Peeyush Rai as a photography company. However, the company changed its business plan to enter eCommerce segment in 2011.
Canvera enables users to search and hire professional photographers based on location and occasion like wedding, babies, fashion, corporate events, travel and nature. Using the platform, users can privately or publicly host their photo albums and provides photo printing solutions like photo books, coffee table books, etc.
Users also have an option to browse through the database and hire photographers on daily and hourly basis. The company is headquartered in Bangalore with regional offices in Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Delhi & Chandigarh.
The company has also launched iOS & Android mobile applications that helps in securely sharing digital versions of photobook. Its desktop client named Compose allows users to submit pre-designed orders online and its online Preview software allows online collaboration of photobook design with designer.
Info Edge invested Rs. 35 crore in the company for 23 percent stake in 2012. Later, it invested Rs. 6 crore in January and Rs. 13.5 crore in March and Rs. 10 crore in October, in the year 2014.
Prior to that, in 2008, the company had also raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Footprint Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Mumbai Angels and two UK-based angel investors.
For professional photographers, the portal offers various options to showcase portfolio, generate relevant business leads and also setup online photo stores with e-commerce integration. In order to generate revenues, the company is offering different plans, which starts at Rs. 3,000 per month and goes up to Rs. 12,500 per month.
Canvera is among the seven companies that Info Edge invested in. It recently invested in $1 million seed round of BigStylist. It has also invested in Zomato, Meritnation.com, Policybazaar, Studyplaces and Applect Learning Systems.
