Location-based mobile app Happy Hours looks to bring investors on board

Happy Hours India, a location based mobile app run by FNB City Media, is in talk with investors to raise fund. “We are in the process of meeting possible investors, who we believe will bring strategic value benefits for our business expansion,” Hemant Jain, Co-founder & Director, FNB City Media, told Entrepreneur India.

Co-founded by Hemant Jain and Raviraj Meena in September 2013, FNB City Media is an early stage startup in the online food, restaurant, local media and marketing space. The app allows users to locate deals and events offered by local restaurants or pubs. It provides users with real time information of happy hours at restaurants around them. The customers can also search for restaurants offering buffet breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.

Speaking about his expansion plans, Jain shared, “Over the next 12 months, our focus is to grow our user base on the back of a great consumer experience, enter into newer markets, including the tier-2 and 3 cities/towns and build revenue lines.” The first prototype of the concept was launched in April 2013 across 7 restaurants in Mumbai.

Available in iOS and Android for free, the app has tied-up with over 1,400 restaurants and pubs in top 14 cities and over 3,000 restaurants including buffets. So far, the app has registered 4 lakh downloads/updates with 60,000 average active users per month. As far as the revenue model, the team expects revenues to come from transactions, subscriptions and advertising.

The application gives restaurant owners complete admin control of their restaurant page and listing data. It also enables easy management of multiple properties through a single sign-on and admin rights. Apart from regularly updating the listing details, deals, special events etc, the app also provides the facility to upload photos and videos.

The duo aim to make Happy Hours the largest local advertising platform in India for restaurant owners to list their restaurant and communicate special offers real time to the customers in the local neighborhood. “Our solution is mobile application driven and provides restaurants an opportunity to directly interact with users in the local catchment and users who have listed a restaurant as favourite,” Jain added further.