Messaging app Lookup raises $2.5 mn from Vinod Khosla of Sun Microsystems, others

Lookup, a messaging app that connects shoppers with local businesses, on Wednesday said it has raised $2.5 million (about Rs 16 crore) from Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Narayana Murthy's Catamaran Ventures, among others.

"The funds will be employed to expand Lookup's merchant base and branch out into newer geographies," it said in a statement. The Series A funding was led by Vinod Khosla's personal fund Khosla Impact. "Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Narayana Murthy's Catamaran Ventures and Global Founders Capital, the European investment fund from Rocket Internet's Samwer brothers also participated in this round," it added.

"Other participants include Geneva based ACE & Company, Singapore based M&S partners, New Look fashion chain founder Tom Singh, Lookout founder Kevin Mahaffey and LivSpace founder and former Google Local head Anuj Srivastava," it added. In January this year, Lookup had raised a total of $382,000 in its seed round from Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, DeNA Japan, Beenos founder Teruhide Sato and MKS Switzerland SA. They also participated in the current round.

Founded by Innoz's Deepak Ravindran, Lookup has registered one million users within months of its launch. Lookup currently operates in three cities - Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. The company plans to expand its presence in Dubai in partnership with Etisalat. "Chat is eating the world. Lookup uses chat to disrupt local commerce in India, which is a $750 billion industry. India has the highest shop density in the world with over 45 million local businesses," Lookup founder and CEO Deepak Ravindran said.

He added, "We want Lookup to be the Google equivalent for finding products and services offline. For this, we hyperlink every local store near you with a simple chat app which give you synchronous connection to the verified vendor."