Bengaluru-based Goodbox raises Rs 16.51 crore from Nexus Venture for expansion

BENGALURU: Goodbox, a conversational-commerce mobile application for businesses and their consumers, has raised Rs 16.51 crore ($2.5 million) from Nexus Venture Partners.

The Bengaluru-based company plans to use the funds to upgrade tech, expand operations and acquire more merchants.

Goodbox provides small and medium businesses, including kirana stores, with an application presence in five minutes along with a payment gateway, thereby allowing customers to interact and engage with them. In other words, it provides a social media communication app for the business and its consumers.

"We feel like this works, because, many businesses, be it a grocery store, a company or even a hospital, rarely have such apps of their own. This will really help speed up processes and help both parties," said co-founder Mayank Bidawatka, who was a core team member at ticket booking platform redBus.

Goodbox, which aims to get every business to create their store on the app and interact with customers, has tied up with over 1,200 merchants in Bengaluru, including supermarkets, restaurants, laundry chains, rental providers, movers and packers, canteens and salons. The company raised seed funding earlier this year from the Manipal Group, Taxi-ForSure co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna and redBus cofounder Charan Padmaraju.

"We're excited about partnering with a team that has great product thinking and proven operational strengths," said Sandeep Singhal, co-founder of Nexus Venture.