Online visa application platform Atlys has raised $12 million in Series A funding round, the startup said on September 21, as it focuses on India to drive growth.
The round was led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India) and Elevation Capital with participation from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), musical duo Chainsmokers, South Park Commons, Pinterest founders, among others.
The platform, which started in the US in 2021, is looking to cut down the time spent by Indian travellers on applying and getting a visa, betting big on the growing travel market in the country.
India is the second largest visa market in the world and it is growing faster than China, the biggest visa market, founder Mohak Nahta said.
The number of direct flights to many countries from India is increasing resulting in Indians exploring newer countries, while the growth in economy is leading to more disposable income, he said.
“All these factors are tailwinds to grow in India. So, while we started in the US and have customers from 100 countries, the focus right now is to build a playbook and penetrate in India and then replicate across markets globally," Nahta said.
The company had raised a $5 million seed round in 2021.
The travel market in India is growing with over 10 million new passports being issued in India every year and more travellers looking to explore newer international destinations. Visa, however, remains a pain point, Nahta said.
The online visa platform is banking on its predictive engine to deliver visas on time.
"Till date we have processed 250,000 visas and with each visa we get 50-60 data points. The engine analyses the data point to predict accurately when a person will get his/her visa and we also keep a check at what stage a visa is in the government process. That’s how 99.2 percent visas come on time,” Nahta said.
The information required for most visas are standard and Atlys keeps on leveraging the data of travellers who come on to the platform.
“We are trying to make Indians of having one of the strongest passports," said Nahta.
While there are other platforms that are offering online visa services like VFS Global, e-Visa India, Nahta said that the e-visa is a big fast-growing market.
More than 65 percent countries have moved to e-visa. The total visa market is $40 billion, with e-visa having a 65 percent share.
So, we are doubling down on supply from currently 65 countries to 150 countries in the next four to five months," Nahta said. The startup’s target is to add 30 more countries by the second quarter of 2024.
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