NGALURU: India's largest e-tailer Flipkart has invested in Delhi-based mobile tech startup Cube26. The company's part of the consortium led by marquee investment firm Tiger Global Management that is investing Rs 50 crore.
The Delhi-based startup develops applications for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and software-based user experience for e-commerce companies to drive traffic and app downloads. It developed gesture technology -- blink to capture -- for Panasonic; the app maps the face and detects the eye of the user to send out a click command when the user blinks his eyes. It also developed the QuickLook application for Micromax that integrates feeds from social media accounts, weather updates and the latest news on a single screen.
"We are using the funds to more double our R&D he adcount to 120 people in the next six months and develop a robust technology platform that provides a faster and slicker mobile experience," co-founder and CEO Saurav Kumar said. The company, founded by Kumar, Aakash Jain and Abhilekh Agarwal in 2012 in California, relocated its headquarters to India in 2013 to leverage on the opportunities in the domestic market. "Mobile hardware is steadily becoming commoditized, and lot of device makers are focusing heavily on software-led user experience and monetization," Kumar said.
Nishant Verman, senior director and head of corporate development at Flipkart, said the company had put mobility at the centre of whatever it did. "Cube26 has a deep understanding of user behaviour on smartphones. Understanding the device experience is critical for flawless user experience on small screens," he said.
Verman said the company had made ten investments so far, but declined to comment on the specific investments. "We are not a VC firm to focus on IRR (internal rate of return), but on innovative offerings," he said.
In June, Flipkart, together with Accel, had invested Rs 38 crore in Bengaluru-based freight booking service Blackbuck, renamed as Zinka Logistics, demonstrating the company's appetite to invest in ventures that are complementary to its offerings. Cube26 software currently resides on more than 5 million devices. The company is set to unveil its first product in the internet-ofthings space, a smart bulb loaded with intuitive, experiential features.
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