3 IIT grads raise $1M from SAIF Partners for a <em>Niffler</em> app to find offline offers

Indians love a good deal. More than convenience, that’s the reason why ecommerce took off in the country. While sites and apps that alert you to discounts and deals online are a dime a dozen, you might still miss that big discounted sale at some offline brick-and-mortar store.

Three Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduates, Edul Patel, Prince Arora, and Viraj Shah, found this a good problem to solve. They quit their investment banking jobs last year to start Niffler, and just raised seed capital of US$1 million from SAIF Partners.

“Their aim is to connect brick and mortar stores with consumers. There has been a significant uptick in appetite for businesses that connect offline businesses to consumers via mobile and we are certain that Niffler will scale tremendously in the days ahead,” says Mukul Singhal, principal at SAIF Partners.

The Niffler app helps users find deals from offline merchants across several categories, including food and drinks, spas and salons, and apparel. Niffler will provide intelligent location-based alerts while you shop. You can also search for offers by categories or particular items or brands. It recommends best products for you based on your preferences and past activity on the app, and lets you see recommendations from friends. For offline stores, Niffler offers a mobile platform to push offers, connect with consumers, and track their buying behavior to boost footfalls.

Co-founder Viraj Shah says the app currently has over 30,000 users and 3,000 plus active offers listed across 15,000 stores in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and the National Capital Region (in and around Delhi).

The app is currently available for Android on Google Play. An iOS version will be out soon.