SingleInterface, a SaaS startup, has successfully raised $30 million to assist more businesses in establishing a robust online presence. This funding aims to drive business growth and digital transformation, enabling companies to effectively transition and compete in the online marketplace. Learn how this initiative will make a difference.
SingleInterface, a SaaS startup providing tools for offline businesses to increase their revenues through the web, has raised $30 million in its first external funding round as the Singaporean startup seeks to expand its international presence and enhance its products to better serve global brands.
While a lack of online presence remains prevalent for businesses in major markets, including the U.S., Asia, and Europe, many companies are beginning to adopt online marketing strategies to attract more customers and grow their revenues. The primary driver behind this shift is the increasing number of internet users worldwide. According to the International Telecommunication Union, nearly 67% of the global population, or 5.4 billion people, is online, marking a 4.7% growth since 2022. In contrast, the United Nations agency reported that the global offline population steadily declined to 2.6 billion in 2023.
Nonetheless, finding a one-stop solution for going online can be challenging. Some services may assist businesses in building a website, while others might just help with search engine listings. Additionally, some solutions are restricted to specific sectors. SingleInterface addresses this issue by offering a suite of products tailored for multi-location brands, whether in food and beverage, retail, or automotive.
The startup collaborates with over 400 multi-location brands across India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, helping them manage the digital presence of their physical stores and retail outlets. It provides tools that enable businesses to drive online customer engagement, enhance visibility through search engine listings and maps, manage feedback and online reviews, and even build websites with integrated SEO management, delivering insights for each business location. The startup also employs AI to streamline the process of digitizing thousands of stores simultaneously.
Tarun Sobhani, co-founder and CEO of SingleInterface, told Habertalya that the startup helps businesses increase their revenues by 15% to 20% using its products.
"Implementing marketing strategies at the storefront level becomes a very tedious task for brands because devising thousands of marketing strategies for numerous stores is never easy. That’s where the whole AI automation component comes in, enabling a better marketing ROI for each store," he stated in an interview.
In addition to allowing businesses to create detailed, store-level websites for their local outlets, SingleInterface enables them to run localized offers and events for specific locations and to communicate two-way via WhatsApp, Facebook, and Google Business Messages. The startup also aids multi-location brands in understanding why some stores receive poor ratings while others achieve four or five-star ratings. Furthermore, it allows for the management of online campaigns for different locations from a single source and optimizes them based on local competitors, market dynamics, and unique business hours.
SingleInterface already counts brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Nissan, Apollo Tyres, HDFC Bank, and TVS Motor among its customers, as well as multiple group companies of large Indian conglomerates, including Tata Group, Reliance Group, Aditya Birla Group, and Bajaj Group. It is also expanding in Southeast Asia and Australia, with plans to enter Japan and Korea soon, alongside scaling up in the Middle East.
This all-equity round was led by Singapore’s growth investment firm Asia Partners, with participation from PayPal Ventures. The startup plans to utilize the new funds to expand its geographical footprint and continue investing in its products to enhance consumer experience, Sobhani informed Habertalya.
Prior to this funding round, SingleInterface was bootstrapped. Sobhani and Harish Bahl, the founder of consumer internet investment and venture-building firm Smile Group, co-founded the startup in 2015. However, Sobhani noted that it was in 2017 that they began offering their tools to customers.
SingleInterface currently employs about 235 people, most of whom are based in India, with its development center located in New Delhi. Sobhani indicated that the startup plans to hire many more people in the Asia-Pacific region to grow its presence.
We are thrilled to be partnering with Tarun, Harish, and the SingleInterface team to support their growth ambitions in India and globally. SingleInterface has demonstrated an exceptional track record of fostering customer engagement and commerce for large enterprises over the past several years and has firmly established itself as a prominent player in the region, successfully integrating offline and online customer journeys to drive growth for physical retail locations, said Oliver Rippel, co-founder of Asia Partners, in a prepared statement.
With the startup's expansion and the continuous evolution of e-commerce, SingleInterface is well-positioned to become a leader in supporting businesses in adopting effective online strategies. Given the rise in global connectivity and the increasing importance of e-commerce, SingleInterface's commitment to making digital tools more accessible for offline businesses could prove crucial for the future of retail in many emerging and established markets.
