SaaS platform Hippo Video secures $4.5 mn from Alpha Wave Incubation, others

Lyceum Technologies, which owns and operates a video customer experience (CX) platform Hippo Video, has raised $4.5 million in Series A round of funding. 

The investment round was led by Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), a $300m venture fund managed by Falcon Edge Capital and backed by Abu Dhabi-based ADQ.

Exfinity Venture Partners as well as returning investors, Sequoia Capital India’s Surge and KAE Capital, also participated in the funding round, according to a statement.

The Newark, Delaware headquartered firm will use the fresh funds to expand its go-to-market teams as well as ramp up the engineering team.

“With the increasing role of video in communication and social media, Hippo Video looks to capitalise on video as a key decision influencer and trust driver,” Karthi Mariappan, CEO and founder, Hippo Video said in a statement.

Founded in 2018 by Mariappan, Nilam Chand Jain, and Srinivasan Krishnan, Hippo Video offers video marketing software as a service (SaaS) platform. The company helps marketers create, edit, and personalise video content on a mass scale, as well as analyse responses and convert more viewers into customers. The company has about 200 customers worldwide, including Freshworks, Essilor, and Goulet Pens.

The startup, which operates out of its Chennai office, says it provides video CX solutions to every business from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to enterprises. With the current investment, the company aims to expand its presence to Abu Dhabi, targeting the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and other global markets. 

The firm says it will build a team of data scientists, product managers, and engineers located in Abu Dhabi, the statement added.

In 2018, it bagged an undisclosed amount in a bridge round, dubbed as pre-Series A, from early-stage investor Kae Capital, according to data provided by the research and marketing platform VCCEdge.

With $300 million, AWI was launched this year by New York-headquartered hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital. The fund is backed by the government of Abu Dhabi’s ADQ entity, as well as investors from the United Arab Emirates.

The fund’s other India bets include Solar energy SaaS provider SenseHawk, online lending platform Avail Finance, and conversational AI and customer support software provider Verloop.io.