Bourse-bound Netcore invests $100 mn for a majority stake in Unbxd

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform Netcore Cloud said it has picked up a majority stake in US-based product discovery platform Unbxd Inc for $100 million.

Netcore plans to expand its footprint across developed markets with infusion of additional capital into the cloud-backed Unbxd.

The latest acquisition marks Netcore’s fourth buyout after Quinto.ai, Boxx.ai and Hansel.io., in the last three years.

The Mumbai-based platform said that following the acquisition, Unbxd will operate as an independent entity, however there will be no restructuring in the company’s management and the founders and key leaders will continue in their roles.

Unbxd, rolled out by Pavan Sondur and Prashant Kumar in 2012,  offers search solutions to improve retention and conversions for ecommerce retailers and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in the US, UK and Australia.

Currently, the company claims to power 3.5% of all the US e-commerce on-site search queries spread across 150 customers.

Unbxd has a host of clientele including Mattress Firm, Express, Ashley Homestore, Home Shopping Network, Advance Auto Parts, The Children’s Place, Mitre10 and Kookai, among others.

The company was backed by investors like Nirvana Ventures, Chiratae Ventures, Eight Roads and Inventus Capital.

“The coming MarTech era will be defined by budget shifts from Adtech to MarTech as brands will focus more on unit economics and valuing existing customers. This will lead D2C/ecommerce brands to accelerate their spending towards delivering personalized customer experiences.

Unbxd’s AI/ML tech stack will empower our customers to track their shopper’s interactions with search and implement site-wide personalization, merchandising, along with shopper-focused recommendations,” said Kalpit Jain, Group CEO, Netcore Cloud.

“Netcore Cloud platform is growing rapidly at 40% YoY (with international markets growing 100% YoY ). We are positioned as the digital proxy in emerging markets. Added to that, this investment will enable us to get a strong foothold in the US and other developed markets as well,” said Nishant Jain, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of M&A, Netcore Cloud.

Netcore was launched in 1998 by serial entrepreneur Rajesh Jain, founder of IndiaWorld Communications (owner of a series of portals called Khel.com, Khoj.com, Samachar.com and Bawarchi.com).

The marketing platform works with brands like MaxLife Insurance, ICICI Bank, Standard Chartered, Flipkart, Myntra, Miss Amara, Airtel, Disney Hotstar, Canon, Puma, Tobi, EaseMyTrip, PizzaHut and McDonald’s.

This article was first published on VCCircle

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