Mumbai: Electronic surveillance technology firm Securens Systems Pvt. Ltd has raised a little over $5 million (Rs35 crore) from existing venture capital investor Mayfield India and venture debt provider Trifecta Capital.
The latest round of fund-raising saw Mayfield invest Rs15 crore (approximately $2.2 million), while the company raised another Rs20 crore (approximately $2.95 million) in venture debt from Trifecta Capital.
Mayfield had first invested $4 million in Securens in 2012, followed by more funds in 2014.
Securens, founded by Sunil R. Udupa in 2011, provides technology-based security solutions. Its chief e-surveillance product, ActiDETER, prevents crimes through use of video verification and two-way audio.
Securens monitors approximately 20,000 sites across India for customers ranging from private sector banks to retail outlets.
“Burglary attacks are increasing by the day, encouraged by the utter lack of good security and surveillance systems,” said Udupa, who is also managing director and promoter of Securens.
The predominant form of security was guards, who were not very efficient and reliable, and also expensive, he said, adding the cost of guards continued to rise while that of technology dropped year-on-year.
“There is an urgent and critical need for technology that can replace guards,” he insisted.
Securens is disrupting the status quo in the sector by bringing in a technology-based alternative that is more reliable and efficient than guards, at a fraction of the cost, Udupa added.
According to Udupa, Securens’ technology solutions cost just a fifth of guard costs.
Besides e-surveillance, Securens’ product portfolio includes systems such as ActiHEALTH, which performs health checks of all existing cameras and digital video recorders and ActiHYGIENE, which checks the adherence to standard operating procedures at all retail outlets.
Securens offers these services under an outsourcing model, helping customers be more capital-efficient.
With the latest round of fund raising, the company plans to tap a new set of clients. The company is in talks with many gold loan outlets and has designed a customized solution for such businesses, Udupa said.
“By combining video surveillance with analytics, the company has developed unique offerings for enterprise customers across verticals,” said Rahul Khanna, Managing Partner at Trifecta Capital.
Trifecta is currently raising its first venture debt fund of Rs500 crore.
Since it began investing in late 2015, Trifecta has so far made 17 investment commitments adding up to a total of Rs220 crore, it reported.
The venture debt provider has invested in companies such as online furniture store Urban Ladder, business-to-business marketplace Industrybuying, healthcare firm NephroPlus and beverage maker Paper Boat.
Source: Mint
