Mobstac, the Bangalore based startup that earlier launched its platform for publishers (like bloggers/media companies) to have a beautiful mobile site has raised a fresh round of funding from Accel Partners and Mumbai Angels.
The company raised the angel round earlier this year (read their experience: How We Raised Angel Funding in India) and the current round of funding will be used for the upcoming Touchsite platform, which is scheduled for closed beta launch this November (I have played with it and must say that its super impressive).
Mobstac’ Touchsite
If you are a serious publisher, you do want to have a different experience for tablet visitors vs. those visiting via mobile devices. Right now, the only way to achieve this is via an app or a HTML5 site. In short, you need to spend efforts in development of these apps.
And that’s where Mobstac’s SAAS driven platform approach is a differentiator – the HTML5 platform will render any RSS feed driven site to a beautiful touchsite that gives an app like lean-back experience for tablet devices and importantly, will add the app-like interactivity to the site. The service will be launched this month (November 2011) in closed beta.
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I had a quick word with Shekhar Kirani (Accel Partners) and Anil Joshi (Mumbai Angels) on their comments regarding the investment:
Shekhar Kirani:
The time has come (in terms of access to marketing/tech) for Indian companies to global as products fits the need. If you are going to sell on the web/people need to discover on-the-web, you can be anywhere.
Anil Joshi:
The world is moving from desktop to tablet. Mobstac’s touchsite is a platform and device agnostic and that’s their big differentiator. Mobstac is the new generation Indian startup that is not targeting India, but global market as well.
As far as funding is concerned, both groups will have 1 representation on Mobstac’s board.
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Given that this market is highly US-centric, Mobstac team will be competing with some of the established players (including another Indian startup, Genwi which raised $4mn from Nexus Venture Partners).
Aside, if you are a startup looking for funding, do read this great article from Mobstac team: Raising Seed Funding? Use This Convertible Note Template
