Matrix Partners India invests in Traffline

Mumbai, India '“ December 6, 2013: Matrix Partners India today announced that it has invested in the first institutional round of funding for Birds Eye Systems Private Limited, which offers real-time traffic and travel information for Indian cities through a variety of mobile and internet channels under the Traffline brand.

Brijraj Vaghani, the co-founder and CEO, has extensive experience in the mobile sector with Qualcomm and Nextwave Wireless in the US, before moving back to India and starting Birds Eye Systems. His co-founder and CTO, Ravi Khemani, has worked previously with careerbuilder.com in the US and Sears International in India.

"Getting access to accurate and real-time traffic, travel and local information is a large problem for millions of Indian commuters in major cities. We want to address this problem using an approach tailored to Indian ethos and travel conditions. We partner with private players, government, police, public transport utilities and our users to ensure that information is real-time. We aim to own the everyday door-to-door travel and information space on mobile, be it private vehicles, public transport, or local businesses, across major Indian cities' said Brijraj Vaghani and Ravi Khemani, co-founders, Birds Eye Systems Private Limited

Nitin Agarwal '“ Investor, IAN said "We are very pleased for the Traffline team. This is an endorsement of our belief in the company and its founders, as well as of the ability of IAN to source, evaluate, and nurture high-potential startups at a very early stage.' Rajiv Dadlani '“ Investor, IAN added "We have always believed in Brij and Ravi. Their focus and determination was the key factor in our investment decision at the angel stage. We look forward to continuing to work with them, as well as with Matrix Partners India, to grow Birds Eye into a valuable company.'

"We are excited by Traffline's unique approach of using technology to solve the offline traffic and transportation problem in India. Traffline is a pioneer in this space and we're investing to expand the product to 10 cities in India and multiple transport modes in a short timeframe. We look forward to partnering with Brij and Ravi in their journey to build a large company. We continue to focus on more early stage investments in the mobile space in India.' said Vikram Vaidyanathan, Director, Matrix India

About Birds Eye Systems Private Limited:
Birds Eye Systems provides real-time traffic information across 4 major Indian cities under the Traffline brand. Traffline's products already have several hundred thousand users, and have been covered extensively in major offline and online media outlets. With a network of data sources running into several thousands, Traffline prides itself on its ability to provide short, contextual, conversational calls to action to millions of commuters daily. Further information is available at www.traffline.com

About Indian Angel Network:
Indian Angel Network is India's only national, nimble and Asia's largest business angel investors network of nearly 250 business angels investing in start-ups and early stage ventures. Built "By Entrepreneurs, For Entrepreneurs", entrepreneurs can gain access to the vast business network of IAN's influential members, strategic direction and operational guidance apart from financial investment which is critical for creating large, valuable companies. Indian Angel Network has funded over 50 start-ups across multiple sectors like IT, Mobile, Healthcare, Education and Hospitality across India and overseas and has made several successful exits. In 2012 alone, IAN invested over US$ 11 million in 17 start-ups making it almost a deal every 3 weeks. In 2013, IAN has already invested in 7 start-ups including an impact investment in a socially relevant venture and has provided some brilliant exits to its investor base '“ like 22 times in 5 years, over 6 times in 15 months of investment, etc. Further information is available at www.indianangelnetwork.com

About Matrix Partners India:
Matrix Partners India is an investment firm with INR 3,000 crore under management. The firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer market at the seed, early and early growth stages. The firm has invested in several market leading companies including Verse/Newshunt (mobile vernacular language platform), U2opia (social mobile apps), Twist Mobile (mobile games), Mswipe (mobile POS), Quikr (online classifieds), Stayzilla (online hotel reservations), Centre for Sight (eye care chain), Cloudnine (maternity and infant care chain), Muthoot Finance (gold loan NBFC) and TreeHouse Education (preschools) among others. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China and India with US $3 billion under management. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in