Continuing his investment spree in Indian start-ups, Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, has invested an undisclosed amount in Gurgaon-based cashback and coupons start-up CashKaro.com. This is his third investment in start-ups this month — having invested in Tracxn, a startup intelligence and market research platform, and Dogspot.in, an online pet care company.

The funding comes just two months after CashKaro raised Rs 25 crore in a Series A funding round led by Kalaari Capital, which has Tata as its advisory board member.

Founded by Swati and Rohan Bhargava in 2013, CashKaro raised $750,000 in 2013 in an angel funding round from a group of investors based in London — belonging to companies like Paypal, Investec and Goldman Sachs. The company works with over 1,000 online retailers including Amazon.in, Paytm, Jabong and ShopClues offering up to 30% extra cashback when they visit their favourite sites via CashKaro and shop. CashKaro revenue is based on the commission it earns from retailers the retailers.

“The funding from Ratan Tata marks another milestone in CashKaro’s three-year journey. We are privileged to have him come on-board as an investor. His expertise and insight will be immensely helpful as CashKaro.com expands to newer markets and pursues an aggressive customer acquisition strategy,” CashKaro co-founders Swati Bhargava said in a statement on Tuesday.

CashKaro currently has over 1 million registered users on the site and over 5 million page views every month in India. It has already credited Rs 30 crore in real cash as cashback to its members and expects to cross Rs 100 crore in gross merchandise value in the next few months, according to the company.

Tata has invested in a wide variety of  start-ups in recent times. Right from online jewelry firm Bluestone.com, cab-hailing giant Ola, mobile manufacturer Xiaomi, microfinance lender Grameen Capital to digital payments service Paytm, Tata has parked his money in almost every emerging category. Even though he has invested in more than a dozen start-ups, he has never revealed the quantum of money invested. He also serves as an advisor with Kalaari Capital, IDG Ventures and Jungle Ventures.

Source: The Financial Express