Knowlarity

Knowlarity Communications is a cloud telephony and AI company headquartered in Singapore. The company provides cloud-based customer service and sales call handling solutions to businesses in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. Knowlarity has over 15,000 customers spread across 65 countries and is the largest cloud communications provider in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.[1][2][3][4]

Knowlarity
TypePrivate
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedAugust 2009
FounderAmbarish Gupta
HeadquartersSingapore
Area served
Asia
Middle East
Africa
Latin America
North America
Europe
ProductsSuperReceptionist
click-to-call
virtual number
k-broadcast
call center solutions
katie
ServicesCloud Communications
Number of employees
650
Websiteknowlarity.com

Knowlarity's services are built around its flagship cloud-based telephony platform, Vagent.in, which replaces physical PBX systems with ‘plug-and-play’ telephony system that allows businesses to put in place a professional call handling solution for internal and external communications.[5]

Knowlarity's services were shut down in June, 2016 by a telco in Delhi.[6]

History

Knowlarity was founded in 2009 by Ambarish Gupta and Pallav Pandey.

Founder and former CEO Ambarish Gupta is a graduate of Computer Science from IIT Kanpur. He started his career at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics in Germany before joining software major EFI.[7]

Ambarish later earned an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and worked as a Senior Associate with McKinsey & Company.[8]

In 2009, drawn to the emerging field of cloud telephony, Ambarish launched Knowlarity Communications with the aim of providing cloud communication solutions to businesses.[9]

Initially headquartered in Gurgaon, India, Knowlarity shifted its headquarters to Singapore in 2013.[10][11] Today, Knowlarity employs over 300 people[12] at various locations across the world and is the largest provider of cloud-based communications solutions to businesses in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.[13][14]

Funding
  • As of December 2016, Knowlarity has received over $42.5 million in funding, with the latest round (Series C) raising $20 million from several investors including Delta Partners, Sequoia India, Mayfield, Blacksoil, and Trifecta Capital.[15][16]
  • Knowlarity's first round of funding took place in 2011, with Progressivist Investment Capital and Emergic Ventures adding a yet-undisclosed sum of seed capital.[17]
  • In 2012's Series A of fundraising, Sequoia Capital invested $6.5 million. Series B ($1 million) took place in 2014, with Sequoia Capital and Mayfield Fund participating.[18]

Acquisition
  • In 2014, Knowlarity carried out its first acquisition, that of Delhi-based cloud telephony startup Unicom Techlabs Pvt. Ltd[19] The deal saw Knowlarity take over Unicom Techlabs’ 200 customers in the SMB, e-commerce, real estate, healthcare, education and media sectors.[20][21]
  • In 2016, Knowlarity acquired customer engagement platform Smartwards. The acquisition saw Knowlarity absorb Smartwards’ team into its own operations, with CEO Shantanu Mathur taking over as Country Manager, India.[22]
  • In 2018, Knowlarity acquires cloud telephony business of Sunoray Solutions.[23]

References all in one
  2. Knowlarity blazes forward by adding new markets in Asia, gunning for larger clients
  3. Jain, Aashika (23 November 2016). "Dubai-based PE Firm Invests in India's Cloud Telephony Platform Knowlarity". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  4. Usman, Muhammad ?Riaz. "Success is the tip of an iceberg – Khaleej Times". khaleejtimes.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  5. "Review: Knowlarity's Super Receptionist Lets SMBs Go 'Mobile-First'". NDTV Gadgets360.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  6. "Understanding why Knowlarity's services were shut down by a telco in Delhi". MediaNama. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  7. "Ambarish Gupta | VCCircle Events". events.vccircle.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  8. "Knowlarity is revolutionizing the cloud telephony technology to empower your company with marketing automation and communication tools! – TechStory". TechStory. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  9. Usman, Muhammad ?Riaz. "Success is the tip of an iceberg – Khaleej Times". khaleejtimes.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  10. "5 successful start-ups by IIT, IIM & BITS alumni". The Economic Times. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  11. "Cloud telephony firm Knowlarity shifting base to Singapore; claims 5,000 paying customers". Techcircle.in – India startups, internet, mobile, e-commerce, software, online businesses, technology, venture capital, angel, seed funding. 27 June 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  12. "Companies which are on a mission to make Indian more productive-DQWeek". dqweek.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  13. "About Us". – Cloud Telephony, Click To Call,IVR, Call Center, Virtual Number, Cloud Pbx,Toll Free Number. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  14. Usman, Muhammad ?Riaz. "Success is the tip of an iceberg – Khaleej Times". khaleejtimes.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  15. "Knowlarity raises $20 million led by Dubai fund". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  16. Jain, Aashika (23 November 2016). "Dubai-based PE Firm Invests in India's Cloud Telephony Platform Knowlarity". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  17. "Knowlarity Communications | crunchbase". www.crunchbase.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  18. "Tech in Asia – Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". techinasia.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  19. "Sequoia Capital-backed Knowlarity acquires cloud telephony startup Unicom". Techcircle.in – India startups, internet, mobile, e-commerce, software, online businesses, technology, venture capital, angel, seed funding. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  20. Knowlarity acquired Unicom Techlabs, TechCircle
  21. Knowlarity acquired Unicom Techlabs, TechinAsia
  22. Chathurvedula, Sadhana (9 May 2016). "Knowlarity Communications acquires customer engagement start-up Smartwards". livemint.com/. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  23. Chathurvedula, Sadhana (14 May 2018). "Knowlarity Communications acquires cloud telephony business of Sunoray Solutions". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
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