SMS GupShup, India’s largest social network, closed a $12m funding.
The round was led by Globespan Capital Partners with participation from existing investors Charles River Ventures and Helion Venture Partners.
Launched in April 2007, SMS GupShup now serves 26m users in over 2m sms communities ranging from religious groups to sports teams to fan clubs of celebrities.
This capital infusion will allow the company to expand into new territories, and to roll out new features such as Mobile CRM solutions for small businesses and corporate brands.
In conjunction with the funding, Venky Ganesan, Managing Director of Globespan Capital Partners, will join the SMS GupShup board of directors, which currently includes:
– Devdutt Yellurkar (Charles River Ventures),
– Ashish Gupta (Helion Venture Partners),
– Jeff Hussey (Founder of F5 Networks, Inc.),
– Rakesh Mathur (Co-founder and Chairman of the Board),
– Beerud Sheth (Chief Executive of Webaroo/Co-founder of SMS GupShup).
Commenting on the round, Beerud Sheth, co-founder and chief executive of Webaroo Technology India Pvt. Ltd, parent company of SMS GupShup, was quoted to say: “Our user base and revenues have grown substantially over the last year and are seeing strong interest from carriers worldwide.
“We expect to use the proceeds from this funding round to accelerate our growth and expand our operations globally.
“Our products are useful to each of the the 4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide”.
To date, SMS GupShup has raised $37m in funding.
FinSMEs
20/01/2010