Marketing platform Netcore buys AI startup Boxx.ai; Unicorn India Ventures exits

By Joseph Rai

  • 07 Nov 2019
Credit: 123RF.com

Netcore Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which offers enterprise communication and digital marketing services, said on Thursday it has acquired Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup Boxx.ai for an undisclosed amount.

The transaction paved the way for the exit of Mumbai-based venture capital firm Unicorn India Ventures from Boxx.ai, a person in the know told VCCircle but declined to furnish financial details.

Netcore said in a statement the acquisition will enable its AI-powered growth marketing platform, Smartech, to help brands improve conversion rates by upwards of 15% and enhance the behavioural and purchase predictions by 20%. It will also multiply the marketing return on investment by 10-15 times via hyper-personalised and contextual product and content recommendations.

The entire Boxx team, including co-founders Ajay Kashyap, Prakhar Raj and Shitiz Bansal, will join Netcore.

This is Netcore's second acquisition this year. In April, Netcore bought Quinto.ai, which provides firms with chatbot services fuelled by AI.

Netcore, which was founded in 1997 by Rajesh Jain, offers solutions to help brands and enterprises in customer acquisition, engagement and retention. It has a customer base of over 3,000 enterprises such as Thomas Cook, Go Air, Cleartrip, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, MakeMyTrip, Lenskart, Swiggy and Myntra.

Boxx.ai was launched in July 2016. It had raised $500,000 (Rs 3.2 crore) from Unicorn India Ventures and a clutch of investors the following year.

The Netcore-Boxx.ai deal was facilitated through Propeluss, a smart transaction platform launched by investment bank Equirus Capital, according to the press statement. Propeluss claims it connects startups, corporate houses and investors through its recommendation platform that has been built using proprietary AI algorithms.