Mitsui & Co. invests in Singapore’s analytics startup Crayon Data

Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co. has invested an undisclosed amount in Crayon Data, a Big Data analytics startup in Singapore, with operations in Chennai (India)

The funds will help Crayon accelerate its global expansion, according to an official statement.

The investment also includes a business service agreement by which Mitsui will support the launch of Crayon’s products in Japan, and the expansion of its customer assets. Crayon is looking to partner with banks, hotels, and advertising and media companies in Japan.

Mitsui will also look to add benefits to their own subsidiaries and investee companies in retail, CRM and digital advertising.

This announcement comes hot on the heels of Ratan Tata’s investment in Crayon Data in November last year. Crayon has previously raised approximately US$7 million in seed and Series A funding from angel investors such as Jungle Ventures and Spring Seeds.

“We believe that personalisation, which Crayon Data brings through Big Data analysis of consumer behaviour is going to be key for every business-related to consumer interactions, across every industry and every geography,” said Noda, General Manager of IT Service Div, IT & Communication Business Unit of Mitsui & Co.

Founded in 2012 by Srikant Sastri and Suresh Shankar, Crayon Data is an analytics startup. Unlike the conventional people-led model of analytics, Crayon builds tools that deliver real business solutions by bringing together enterprise, public, external internet and social data to a single platform.

Its flagship product ‘Simpler Choices’ brings the power of Big Data and analytics to enterprises that enable clients increase their sales conversions and improve returns from existing accounts. The firm’s key focus verticals are hospitality, finance, retail and technology.

The firm also offers Maya, a personalisation engine that facilitates choice delivery for the banking, hotel and digital media verticals.