Deal focus: Vertex sees silver lining for CloudCherry

Companies have long recognized the importance of customer satisfaction, but measuring this metric continues to pose a challenge. A paper survey might be returned by one group of customers and thrown away by another; an online questionnaire has the same problem.

India-based CloudCherry takes a comprehensive approach: rather than focusing on a particular customer segment, it develops tools for the broadest possible range of applications. Software engages with customers through 16 different channels, including tablet surveys for retail customers, app-integrated feedback for mobile devices, email follow-ups and voice recognition software. An analytic engine then compiles the data to give corporate users a multidimensional look at their customers.

"If it's a healthcare chain, the engine could come back and say customers in this particular location are unhappy; if you peel the onion further it's the outpatients that are unhappy rather than the inpatients," explains Ben Mathias, managing director and head of India at Vertex Ventures, which recently joined IDG Ventures and Cisco Investments for a $6 million Series A round in CloudCherry. "Then you peel the onion further and see the outpatients are unhappy because the billing process takes too long. So you can really hone in on the issue and get it fixed."

Since its launch in 2014, CloudCherry has gained 100 clients, including well-known Indian names such as jewelry retailer Titan and in vitro fertilization clinic chain Nova. The start-up's client list reaches beyond India as well, with businesses in Europe, the US and Southeast Asia using its product.

CloudCherry's investors see the company a showcase for the intersection of affordable Indian talent and effective global communication systems; its distribution model in particular would have been much less efficient even a few years ago. "You can build these software products with a lot less capital in India, you can maintain them with a lot less capital, and you can also market them for a lot less, because a lot of the selling process is done remotely now for cloud-based solutions," Mathias says.

For now the company is focusing on building its client base in India and Southeast Asia, which are easily accessible and straightforward in terms of time management and face-to-face interaction. While size is no object close to home, the management team's strategy for more far-flung markets such as the US is to target small and medium-sized enterprises, as these deals, though smaller in dollar terms, can be set up more quickly with fewer resources.

"We will eventually start going after the larger deals in the US, but I think we do need some time to find the right people there," Mathias says. "I'd say probably 9-12 months from now, we will have a team on the ground in the US as well and start going after the larger deals there."

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Technology
• Early-stage
• Consumer
• India
• Venture
• TMT
• Vertex Management (II)
• IDG Ventures