Jugnoo, the Chandigarh based on-demand auto aggregator is getting some more undisclosed money. The startup, looking to take on the likes of Uber and Ola (and backed by Paytm for that mission) has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from actress Saumya Tandon. Along with that, the company has also announced that the TV and film actress has been roped in as its brand ambassador.
As per the company’s founders, by making her the face of the company, it will facilitate the startup to have a face to connect with its patrons and new users. The investment will be used by the startup to augment its capacity.
Commenting about the investment, Saumya Tandon, said,
It is an exciting time to be a part of this dynamic startup ecosystem, considering the sudden upsurge in the sector and the growing economy of the country. By providing the convenience of hailing an auto rickshaw via mobile app, Jugnoo is solving a very fundamental problem. I truly appreciate the cause they are working for.
Samar Singla, Founder and CEO, Jugnoo commented,
With Saumya coming on board, our patrons and new users will have a face to connect with and her popularity will aid better brand recall. As far as her investments are concerned; it will assist us to augment our capacity.
Founded in November 2014 by Samar Singla and Chinmay Agarwal, the company targets masses that are dependent on public transport for their daily conveyance. The company offers a bunch of services ranging from goods delivery, logistics, and transport.
Currently, the company claims to have more than 30,000 people transacting per day. Its mobile application has over 7,000 autos empaneled under the brand.
Earlier, the company had raised $5.5 million in Series B round of funding from PayTM and Snow Leopard. Prior to that, PayTM had pumped in around $10 million in the company.
The company is expanding its services to cover almost all regions of India, launching new offices, improving supply quality, providing incentives and rewards targeted towards driver welfare and performance improvement, scaling up marketing and advertising campaigns.
Last week, the company had announced its plan to start its operation in around 1000 villages of India and by the end of this year, it is planning to start operating in many more villages.
With startups becoming the hottest thing in the Indian economy, many celebrities have now started investing in startups. Yuvraj Singh for one, has perhaps been the most activity celeb sports player to have invested in a whole range of companies. He started his own venture capital firm last year and has been actively investing in many startups via the firm.
Some of the known investments made by Bollywood celebrities include Salman Khan’s investment in Yatra.com; Karishma Kapoor’s investment in Babyoye.com. Ajay Devgn has invested in Ticketplease.com while Madhuri Dixit has invested in Goqii, which raised another funding round last week.
