Sequoia India’s Surge invests in customer service startup Richpanel

Richpanel, a customer service platform for the ecommerce industry, has raised an undisclosed amount from Surge, Sequoia Capital India’s accelerator program for startups in Southeast Asia and India.

Richpanel founders (from left) Amit RG and GDJ Dorai / Source: Surge

Founded in January 2019, Richpanel allows merchants to design an “Amazon-like” account page on their online storefront where they can automate order tracking, exchanges, returns, cancellations, among other services.

The US and India-headquartered company positions itself as an alternative to help desk software and customer care outsourcing services in the market.

“Businesses have tried chatbots, FAQs, and help center solutions, but what they need is a solution that doesn’t deflect customers but resolves their issues,” said Richpanel CEO Amit RG.

The startup claims that its platform currently resolves 40% to 50% of incoming queries and aims take it up to 80%. Richpanel intends to scale the operations of small and medium-sized businesses without constantly expanding their support team.

This investment comes as the global outsourced customer care services sector is expected to reach US$84.7 billion by 2020, according to a research by Radiant Insights. The Asia-Pacific market is also projected to grow at a higher rate compared to other regions.

Other players in the industry include Intercom, Freshdesk, and Zendesk Support Suite, among other.

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Richpanel was named as part of the 17 selected early-stage startups for Surge’s fourth cohort. The accelerator also recently invested US$4 million in game development service firm Mod.io, which aims to address complex modding issues for players.