Almonds Ai Secures INR 16 Crore in Seed Funding for AI-Driven Channel Loyalty Solutions

Haldiram's and JITO-JIIF leads INR 16 Crore investment in Almonds Ai

Venture Catalyst, Ever Grow, and Nine ALPS joins the round Almonds Ai, a channel loyalty, rewards and solutions company has secured an INR 16 crore seed funding round led by the promoters of Haldiram's, one of India's most iconic and successful snack food enterprises at an undisclosed valuation. The round also saw participation from prominent investors including Venture Catalyst, Ever Grow Capital, Nine ALPS, Hemant Jain (MD - KLJ Group, President - PHDCCI), Nitin Jain (Cofounder - OfBusiness). This strategic investment marks a significant milestone in Almonds Ai's journey to redefine how businesses engage, educate, and reward their distribution networks using cutting-edge AI technology. For Haldiram's, this investment underscores the growing importance of AI-driven business solutions in modern channel engagement. "At Haldiram's, we have always believed in investing in ideas that create real impact. Almonds Ai's innovative approach to channel partner engagement is transforming the industry. We see immense potential in their platform as it resonates with our vision of delivering exceptional customer experiences. We are excited to be part of their growth story and look forward to the positive impact they will create," Manohar Lal Agarwal, Chairman & MD, Haldiram stated. "JITO-JIIF is committed to supporting businesses that leverage technology to bring transformative change. Almonds Ai is revolutionizing channel engagement with AI-powered solutions that drive efficiency and scalability. We believe this investment will help them expand their reach and create a lasting impact across industries, "Sagar Gosalia, COO, JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation Abhinav Jain and Apurv Modi, Co-founders of Almonds Ai jointly said, "This funding marks a pivotal moment for Almonds Ai as we set out to redefine how brands engage, educate, and incentivize their channel partners. It will allow us to scale operations, expand globally, and empower businesses with AI-driven tools that foster meaningful, long-term relationships." Almonds Ai plans to invest in R&D, expand its team, and enhance its product offerings, ensuring its innovative solutions continue shaping the future of channel loyalty programs across industries. CorpNinja Advisors Pvt. Ltd. (CorpNinja) and Sequitur - Advocates & Legal Consultants (Sequitur) provided end-to-end support to Almonds Ai for valuation, documentation, and finalizing the transaction documents. About Almonds Ai: Almonds Ai, launched in 2020, is a channel loyalty and rewards powerhouse, empowering 100+ distribution-led organizations' more than 6 million channel partners like retailer, dealers and influencers like driver, painters, mechanics etc. with its Guinness award-winning Channelverse™ ecosystem. Almonds Ai also invented Green Loyalty Programs, driving sustainability in loyalty management.

Almonds Ai Bags INR 16 Cr To Offer Loyalty Programmes For Brands

The startup will use the funding to accelerate growth, invest in AI-driven innovations, and expand operations beyond India Channel loyalty and rewards platform Almonds.ai has raised INR 16 Cr in a seed funding round led by the promoters of snacking giant Haldiram's and JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation (JIIF). The round also saw participation from Venture Catalyst, Ever Grow Capital, Nine ALPS, KLJ Group's Hemant Jain and OfBusiness cofounder Nitin Jain. The startup will use the funding to accelerate growth, invest in AI-driven innovations, and expand operations beyond India. Almonds Ai also plans to invest a chunk of the capital to invest in R&D, expand the team, and enhance its product offerings. "A part of the funding will be used in the development of AI agents, LLMs, for creating loyalty recommendations, and personalisation features for our client," Almonds Ai cofounder and CEO Abhinav Jain told Inc42. Founded in 2020 by Jain and Apurv Modi, Almonds.ai enables its clients to offer loyalty and rewards programmes to their channel partners like retailers, drivers, painters, mechanics, among others. It claims to work with 100+ distribution-led companies' more than 6 Mn partners. The startup also helps brands transition from offline events to virtual experiences. Almonds Ai counts the likes of Coca Cola, Haldiram's, PropTiger among others, as its customers. It also offers an AI-driven sustainable loyalty programme called Green Loyalty. "We've built an ecosystem around green loyalty programs that allows brands to incorporate eco-friendly and sustainable items as part of their rewards," Jain added. Commenting on the company's expansion plans, Jain said that Almonds Ai has already launched operations in Dubai and signed a partnership with a major HoReCa channel partner in Singapore to bolster presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia regions. "Dubai was chosen for its role as a business hub for over 32 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and its cultural alignment with Indian business practices," quipped Jain. Almonds Ai includes the likes of Capillary Technologies, EasyRewardz and Channelkonnect as its competitors. In FY24, Jain claims that Almonds Ai reported a revenue of INR 35 Cr, with a 12% EBITDA margin. The company projects FY25 revenue to surpass INR 200 Cr, with a target of 15% EBITDA. For FY23, the company earned INR 19.2 Cr in revenue against a net profit of INR 2.3 Cr, with 11.9% EBITDA according to data intelligence platform Tofler. Notably, the Indian B2B channel partner loyalty market is valued at around INR 24,000 Cr and is experiencing an annual growth rate of 15%.