[Funding alert] NextBillion.ai raises $6.25M in Series A round from M12

Nextbillion AI, the Singapore-headquartered AI spatial data SaaS startup with development centres in India, has added another $6.25 million to its Series A round, raising the capital from M12, the venture fund arm of Microsoft.

In June last year, NextBillion AI had raised $7 million in the Series A round from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Falcon Edge Capital. The startup claimed that the latest round from M12 has come in at a significant valuation jump.

On the funding received, NextBillion.ai Co-founder Ajay Bulusu said, “As a high-growth company, working with the right VC was vital for us. In the M12 team, we have found a long-term champion that is helping us scale and expand to North America and other global markets.”

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Founded in February 2020 by Gaurav Bubna, Ajay Bulusu and Shaolin Zheng, NextBillion.ai helps large enterprises build, scale, and manage their own spatial data ecosystem at scale. It said that it has scaled to support 15 customers across 20 countries and helped enterprises map over 2.5 million miles of roads and handled over 20 billion API calls.

“Enterprise location-based solutions are long overdue for disruption—we’re no longer in a scenario where one-size-fits-all,” said Abhi Kumar, Partner at M12, adding, “Globally, companies spend over $6.7B a year on their mapping stack, and this spend is growing faster than ever. NexBillion.ai is leading the disruption of geospatial data with great customer traction and a world-class team.”

According to NextBillion.ai, it offers tailored spatial solutions and tools for a wide range of use cases across diverse industries and company sizes. The segments where it has provided its services include ride-hailing, food delivery, big tech, and logistics industries.

The founders of NextBillion.ai aims to reimagine a geospatial data platform as opposed to being a mere replacement for traditional mapping data or location services. The startup is able to provide personalised location-based services for enterprises through a SaaS model.