Sequoia-backed PagarBook hires One Source for PR mandate

 5th January 2021  
 Paarul Chand

Sequoia and India Quotient-backed staff attendance and payroll management start-up, PagarBook has hired One Source. PagarBook specialises in solutions for the SME sector in India. 

Speaking of the partnership, Siva Prasad, senior vice president – marketing and sales, PagarBook said, “At PagarBook, we wanted a partner who understood that marketing in the new normal needs to be a revenue centre, not a by-the-book cost centre.

We found in One Source someone who understands the marketing space, as well as we do the SME space. I still remember their lead asking me during the first call – if we don’t drive up PagarBook’s revenues, how do we come back asking for YoY retainer hikes?”

Involving reputation management across corporate and consumer stakeholders, the mandate will cover corporate communication, investor relations, consumer outreach and content marketing.

PagarBook recently raised USD 15 million in funding led by Sequoia Capital, a round that also saw participation from India Quotient. PagarBook is expected to use the funding for adding new services such as payment and credit for the MSME sector.

The seven-month old start-up was also in the news last month for signing on Akshay Kumar as their brand ambassador, and launched a national brand campaign – PagarBook Lagao, Business Badhao – with him and veteran actor Kulbhushan Kharbanda. The brand has already reached a user base of 5 million, and has launched its user interface in 13 different languages.

For One Source, the mandate will be spearheaded by Kalyani Nippani, supported by the national team.