Helion Venture invests $2.2 M

By ST Team   |   Thursday, 10 August 2006, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: Helion Ventures, an India focused technology venture fund today announced an investment of $2.2 Million in JiGrahak Mobility Solutions, an upcoming firm in the fast-emerging mobile software sector. Among the initial offerings of JiGrahak is NG Pay, a personal payments platform that allows mobile phone users to make purchases through their cell phones. While the concept is not entirely new—quite a few banks and service providers offer SMS based ticket booking services and bill pay options—what’s perhaps unique about this venture is the packaging. Said Sourabh Jain, CEO, JiGrahak, “All transactions essentially have two aspects—ordering/selection and payment; while most available services today take care of the latter aspect, JiGrahak will be first to offer a seamless combined service.” What that means is that while buying a movie ticket using NGPay—Jigrahak already has on board Inox and Sifymall offering their products, not only will consumers be able to book a ticket, but also choose their seats from a graphic chart. Also, the software is equipped with a wallet wherein a customer can store as many credit/debit cards; while making payments, the system will ask for a personalized PIN—this security measure will prevent misuse in case of loss of the mobile phone—and thereafter provide a confirmation note which the consumer can show at the hall to get a paper ticket. “Mobile phones are fast bwcoming the preferred mode for communications,” said Ashish Gupta, Managing Director, Helion. “We are confident that JiGrahak’s innovative solution will enable it to become a market leader.” What perhaps got Helion interested in investing in JiGrahak, apart from its strong business proposition was the passion in their initiative. Says Jain, “We vibe really well; more than being our investors, Helion has been more like a mentoring partner.” Ashish Gupta and Kanwaljit Singh of Helion Ventures will join the board of directors at JiGrahak.

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