Bangalore-based instant messaging app Lookup – a Craiglist cum WhatsApp for local businesses – just got its third dose of seed funding. Japan’s leading social games companyDeNA and Teruhide Sato, founder of BEENOS group, a global conglomerate with ecommerce holdings and a business incubator, invested US$116,000 into this three-month-old startup founded by Deepak Ravindran, a young serial entrepreneur.
“Both our recent investors have strong footholds in the mobile space and have successfully led innovations in Japan,” says Ravindran, suggesting that the investors would be giving Lookup more than just funding.
Lookup lists businesses, restaurants, and even police stations for users to connect with. Unlike Craigslist or JustDial which would give you a number to dial, Lookup lets you shoot off a message to the local businesses without leaving the app. You can find prices and availability of products or services at local businesses, book appointments at salons, or make reservations at restaurants with this app. Any store or restaurant using Lookup can then respond instantly.
Lookup has a call center tracking the messages to ensure that its users receive responses immediately, even if a store is not using the app. “Our guarantee is that you get answers within five minutes. We do this by employing dedicated people for handling your request. Lookup’s call center fields your responses, calls up stores, and types answers back to you in real-time. No calling, no waiting,” Ravindran told Tech in Asia.
To celebrate the latest funding from Japanese investors, Lookup is gifting free sushi for a week to new users from Bangalore who download the app. For this, it has tied up with two Japanese restaurants Shiro and Ginseng.
With this latest infusion, Lookup’s seed round of venture capital funding closed at US$382,000. It had earlier bagged US$166,000 from tech billionaire Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Indian IT bellwether Infosys, and US$100,000 from MKS Switzerland SA, a precious metals and financial services group of companies.