Crownit
| Type of business | Private |
|---|---|
Type of site | Online shopping |
| Available in | English |
| Founded | March 2014 |
| Headquarters | Gurgaon, India |
| Area served | New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru |
| Founder(s) |
|
| CEO | Sameer Grover[1] |
| Key people | Ashish Munjal (co-founder)[2] |
| Industry | Internet |
| Services | E-commerce (Online marketplace) |
| Website | crownit |
| Launched | March 2014 |
| Current status | Active |
Crownit is an app-only merchant discovery and privilege platform founded by Sameer Grover and Ashish Munjal in 2014 and is owned by GoldVIP Technology Solutions. The app connects consumers to local merchants and provides cashback on lifestyle spends. The company is headquartered in Gurgaon and operates in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.
Crownit raised series A funding of $5.5 million in May 2015 from Accel Partners and Helion Ventures. It has over 10,000 registered merchants and is driving GMV worth Rs. 36 crores per month across Food & Beverage, Beauty, Retail, Movies, Lifestyle, Hotels, and Special Experiences categories.
History
The company began its operations in May 2014 in Gurgaon with its initial category of 'Food'. In 2015,[4] it was launched in two other major Indian metropolises, Mumbai and Bangalore. As of June 2016, Crownit provides cashback in these three cities and in eight categories.
Funding
Crownit raised an initial funding of $380,000 in three rounds from angel funding in 2014. Less than a year later, in March 2015, the company secured $5.5 million (about Rs. 34.1 crore) in a Series A funding from Accel Partners and Helion Ventures.[5]
Operation
Users can find offline outlets on the App, make transactions, and receive cashback in the form of Crowns (a virtual currency). To receive cashback, a user must either make an offline transaction at a listed merchant or an online transaction through the app. For the F&B category, a picture of the bill must be uploaded to the app to claim the cashback. The other categories do not require this process as the user pays through a payment gateway and the cashback is credited automatically. The earned cashback can be used to purchase movie, shopping, and lifestyle vouchers/coupons, make phone/DTH/Landline bill payments, and to make donations to charity.
The app also operates a weekly contest property called Crownit Weekly Rush, in which offline and in-app transactions can earn users rewards. This feature was launched in September 2015.[6]
Crownit also partnered with OYO Rooms in January 2016 for its Weekend Getaways category, adding over 500 OYO properties across India.[7]
Business model
Crownit operates as an F2F platform, allowing local merchants to list themselves and attract consumers. The merchants can create customized deals—which are dynamic, hyperlocal, and targeted to specific audiences based on their gender, location, spending habits, and day of week & time of day. It helps consumers in their buying decisions by offering them curated and personalized options based on their spending habits, interests, and other social data.
There are over 80 app users, and more than 10 merchants listed on this O2O platform.[8]
At present, the app is driving GMV worth Rs. 360 million per month across all categories.[9]
References
- ↑ "Sameer Grover - Yo! Success". 15 September 2015.
- ↑ "GoldVIP Technology Solutions (Crown-it) - CrunchBase".
- ↑ "crownit.in Site Overview". Archived from the original on 2017-05-30. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
- ↑ "Crownit An App only Merchant Discovery and Privileges Platform".
- ↑ "Merchant discovery platform Crown-it partners OYO Rooms". Business Standard.
- ↑ "Crown-it rolls out its latest 'Weekly Rush' campaign to delight users in Bangalore!". ITVoir.
- ↑ "Crown-It partners with Oyo Rooms". Times of India.
- ↑ "He spun childhood games into a cashback app. Now he wants you in ecommerce". Tech in Asia.
- ↑ "It pays to have loyalty points at these startups". The Economic Times.
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