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Wasabi, a Bengaluru-based tech startup has raised $1.8 million in a seed round, led by Ankur Capital with participation from Binny Bansal-backed 021 Capital and Sparrow Capital.

This round also saw participation from angel investors such as Ankit Bhati – Ola, Mekin Maheshwari – Udhyam Learning, Lalit Keshre – Groww, Revant Bhate – Mosaic Wellness, Abhishek Goyal – Tracxn, and Ashish Goel – Urban Ladder.

Wasabi will use this capital to develop its product platform, build its engineering team, and get traction from the market.

On the funding, Co-founder Pradeep Dodle said, “With an increasing number of customers going digital, and intense competition from large ecommerce platforms, many small businesses are facing an existential threat. We believe that they can thrive only by going digital while continuing to build closer relationships with their customers and providing them with personalised service.”

Founded in January 2021 by Pradeep Dodle and Nikhil Goenka, Wasabi is building a communications and growth platform for small and medium businesses in India to help them manage customer relationships better and grow their business.

Ritu Verma, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Ankur Capital, said, “We see SMBs as the backbone of Indian commerce and the opportunity to expand their offerings and grow their businesses to compete in the new digital age as table stakes. Simple, easy to use products will define winners in tech and we believe the team at Wasabi is already well on its way to building a world-class product.”

According to industry estimates, there are more than 60 million registered small and medium businesses in India and many millions more home-based businesses.

Nikhil added, “The biggest moat for small businesses is their relationship and proximity to customers. While they do this exceptionally well offline, they are struggling to extend the same experience digitally. We want to simplify this, help them build stronger customer relationships, and grow their business.”

Wasabi believes the next 3-5 years will be transformational where millions of these small businesses will go digital to survive and thrive.