Martech firm Punt Partners raises first round of capital from investors, entrepreneurs

Punt Partners, a marketing technology startup founded by Dentsu Webchutney co-founder Sidharth Rao and entrepreneur Madhu Sudan, has raised its first round of capital from leading angel investors and entrepreneurs to start operations.

The first raise featured individual investors from the world of media and advertising, marketing and startup founders. The round also saw participation from funds like Point OneCapital, Namma Capital and Real Time Angel Fund along with creative agency Talented.

Some of the investors include Aakrit Vanish (Co-Founder, Haptik), Abishek Surendran (Partner, T2D3 Capital), Anand Jain (co-founder, CleverTap), Anupam Mittal (founder, People Group), Arihant Patni (MD), Patni Financial Advisors, Ashish Gupta (MD, Helion Advisors), Ashish Hemrajani (CEO, BookMyShow), Deep Kalra (founder, MakeMyTrip), Harish Bahl and Manish Vij of Smile Group, Kunal Shah (founder, CRED), Phanindra Sama (Founder, Redbus), Rajan Navani (Founder & CEO, JetSynthesys), Santosh Desai (MD, Future Brands), Sarbvir Singh (CEO, Policybazaar), Vivek Bhargava and Gautam Mehra, (Co-Founders, ProfitWheel).

Sarbvir Singh, CEO of PolicyBazaar & investor director on the board of Punt Partners says, "I have worked with Madhu and Sidharth closely in the past as an investor and board member at Webchutney and as an investor in Madhu’s previous startup as well. I have no doubt that Punt Partners is poised to capitalize on the opportunities that the evolving digital landscape is creating. Currently the mar-tech offering is fragmented globally. With their prior experience in starting up, managing large teams combined with their execution capabilities, I am sure Punt Partners will create a strong impact in the market soon and I cannot wait to see their journey unfold”.

In a joint statement Sudhan and Rao says, "The process of fundraising itself becomes an experience full of value-adds when you’re sitting across the table with seasoned angel investors and successful entrepreneurs like the ones we’re dealing with, many of whom we consider our friends. This round of capital infusion directly goes towards accelerating our global team expansion & operations rapidly. Our immediate focus is to close some strategic partnerships, which we will be announcing in the coming months.”

Sidharth Rao was the former group CEO of Dentsu McGarryBowen Group and the co-founder of Dentsu Webchutney, which was the Global Agency of the Year at Cannes Lions in 2022. Sudhan has led growth teams at SaaS companies such as Lio, Sensehawk and has founded startups Loanzen & Voxapp. Earlier this year, the duo announced the launch of Punt Partners, India’s first full-serviced mar-tech venture that uses first party data, technology and design to deliver better user retention for brands.