Pasadena-Based Data Intelligence Company Near Announces $1 Billion Merger Deal

Data intelligence startup Near Intelligence Holdings Inc. announced on Thursday that it would be listed on the Nasdaq stock market via a merger with KludeIn I Acquisition Corp., at a valuation of about $1 billion.

Near, originally founded in Singapore in 2012 and now based in Pasadena, is among the largest full-stack intelligence providers of aggregated anonymized data on people’s behavior around places, with 1.6 billion unique user IDs, in over 70 million places across 44 countries.

Currently, it offers data insights to several companies including Ford Motor Co, Dunkin Donuts, MetLife and others.

According to the company, the deal with KludeIn I Acquisition Corp. is expected to generate $268 million in gross proceeds for Near, including a private placement of $95 million.

Alongside that, the company said it has secured a $100 million equity investment from CF Principal Investments, an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald.

Upon closing, the company is expected to be named “Near Intelligence, Inc.”

It will trade on Nasdaq using the ticker symbol “NIR.”

The company will continue to be led by Anil Mathews, Founder and CEO of Near.

“Enterprises around the world have trusted Near to answer their critical questions that help drive and grow their business for more than a decade. The market demand for data around human movement and consumer behavior to understand changing markets and consumers is growing exponentially and now is the time to accelerate the penetration of the large and untapped $23 billion TAM,” Mathews said.

“Going public provides us the credibility and currency to double-down on growth and to continue executing on our winning flywheel for enhanced business outcomes over the next decade,” he added.

“I am thrilled to partner with Anil and the entire team at Near as they continue to help global enterprises better understand consumer behavior and derive actionable intelligence from their global, full-stack data intelligence platform,” said Narayan Ramachandran, Chairman and CEO of KludeIn.

“We believe this merger is highly compelling based on the diversified global customer base, superior SaaS flywheel and network effects of Near’s business; highlighted by the company’s strong customer net retention,” added Ramachandran.