Zocket Raises USD 3M Led by Kalaari Capital

SaaS platform Zocket has raised USD 3M in their seed round of funding led by Kalaari Capital, with participation from Kettleborough VC. Zocket enables SMBs to promote their offerings at the click of a button across multiple digital platforms.

Founded in 2021 by second-time entrepreneurs - Karthik Venkateswaran, Nandha Kumar Ravi, Sundar Natesan, and Mukund Srivathsan - Zocket helps businesses launch their digital ads in less than 30 seconds. Their proprietary tech stack combines ~150 variables to generate the best ad copy, visual design, and platform for any SMB. The algorithm generates a real-time visualization of any business’ social profile based on business category, location, intended target audience profile, expected spend, and other such parameters.

Zocket’s beta version has garnered 5000+ users within a week of its launch. Initially, the product was given on an invite-only basis to over 100+ brands to run social media ads who have seen up to ~4x to 6x return on ad spends. 

Zocket’s founders bring deep expertise in working with SMBs. They scaled GoBumpr to 10+ cities driving customer footfalls to over 5000+ small automobile workshops. GoBumpr was acquired 100% by a large traditional automobile after-market player in 2021.

Karthik Venkateswaran, Co-Founder & CEO of Zocket, said, “Consumer-facing small businesses in India have been heavily reliant on online classifieds for digital discovery. With social becoming the new identity, most businesses want to have their own online presence on Facebook, Instagram & other media. This is where Zocket comes in to help these small businesses instantly create their social presence and build their brand online.”  

The company plans to use the proceeds to expand its product offering, improve brand building, bolster its team and launch its full-fledged AdTech solution to the SMBs. 

Vani Kola, Managing Director of Kalaari Capital, said, “We believe the next big disruption in SMB Tech adoption will be in the digital discovery layer as business owners move up the digital hierarchy stack. We are extremely delighted to partner with Zocket as they build an end-to-end tech platform for global SMBs that help these businesses generate instant content, publish across different platforms, and optimize ad spending for the highest ROI.”