Plastic card-based reward app Cardback raises $170K from Rajan Anandan, Sunil Kalra among others
Cardback, an Android app that provides notifications to users about offers on their credit and debit cards on mobiles, has raised Rs. 1 crore ($170,000) via LetsVenture, an online platform that connects startups with angels.
Google India top brass Rajan Anandan, Sunil Kalra, Rishi Shrivastava have led the round along with Alok Mittal, Naval Bir Kumar (VP of IDFC), Soumitra Sharma (ex-IDG Ventures), Nitin Aggarwal, Founder of Yebhi.com among others.
Following the round, Rishi joined Cardback’s board. The startup will use the fund for product enhancement, user traction, expansion to more cities and geographies.
Launched during Diwali 2012, the startup had released its public version in September last year after amassing feedback from around 1,000 early adopters. The new version of Cardback comes with new design interface and user experience.
So far the company supports more than 500 plus credit and debit cards available across categories like shopping, dining, fuel, utilities, health (spas, salons, hospitals), travel, e-commerce and entertainment (movies, plays).
Speaking exclusively to YourStory about investment, Sunil Kalra said, “We are excited to be onboard in Cardback's effort to build a mobile first consumer facing app that aims to bring value to India's young and discerning spenders. Everyone likes to get the best deal, the biggest bang for their buck. Cardback does both by alerting users to the best deals available on their cards and by ensuring that they use their cards to optimize their credit cycle. We feel that Cardback will become an essential app on every smart user’s smartphone.”
As of now the app (link) has attracted about 20,000 downloads with 40% monthly active users. “We’re adding close to 100 plus users on a daily basis,” adds Nidhi Gurnani, Co-founder, Cardback.
The company will be releasing an upgraded version of Cardback in the third quarter of 2014. It will enable users to make smarter use of their cards every time they have to make a payment, and will be available on iOS as well as Windows platforms. “We will also expand to more cities (beyond Delhi / NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore) with this upgrade. A lot of other exciting features are in the pipeline,” adds Nikhil.