Tax filing startup ClearTax acquires Dose FM to strengthen mobile capabilities

Tax filing and investment platform ClearTax on Friday said it had acquired Bengaluru-based audio streaming platform Dose FM for an undisclosed amount.

In a statement, ClearTax said that this acquisition would help it bolster its mobile capabilities and enable the platform to rapidly build accounting, analytics, and governance products to expedite its mission to solve financial problems of MSMEs and individuals.

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In addition to this, the company said with Indian businesses shifting from desktop to mobile and adopting mobile products for day-to-day business and financial planning, the acquisition would help ClearTax cater to this segment of the individuals better.

Founded in January 2018 by Abhishek Damodara, Rishabh Harit, and Akhil Appana, Dose FM has helped thousands of Indians to create and stream live audio shows with significant adoption in Tier II cities.

Speaking on the acquisition, Abhishek Damodara, CEO and Co-founder of Dose FM, said,

“With experience in building consumer products for the Indian market, we resonated with ClearTax’s mission of building mobile-first solutions that will impact crores of Indian business owners and help simplify their lives.”

Archit Gupta, Founder and CEO, ClearTax, said, 

“With small businesses comprising a staggering 99.6 percent of total businesses across India, ClearTax will soon introduce best-in-class solutions focused on solving their accounting, analytics, and governance problems. And Dose FM will help us expand our offerings. The purpose of this acquisition is to utilise the team’s potential to build mobile-focused products for simplifying financial lives of businesses and individuals.”

Currently, ClearTax’s financial technology platform provides software and services including tax filing, TaxCloud, TDS Returns, GST, Mutual Fund Investments and CA & legal services, to empower individuals, accountants, and MSMEs. The platform claims to have served over five million Indian taxpayers to e-file their tax returns.

The startup also claims that close to 600,000 businesses, 60,000 CAs and tax professionals, and over 1,000 large enterprises have utilised ClearTax’s GST Software for GST-compliant billing and filing returns.

Since inception, ClearTax has raised $65 million in equity capital investment. Some marquee investors in the firm include PayPal Co-founder Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Max Levchin, and Scott Banister, along with Composite Capital, Sequoia Capital, and SAIF Partners.

Disclaimer: DoseFM is YourStory's Tech 30 2018 startup.

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

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