Online information site on tax issues TaxSutra raises $161K from former Infosys execs

Pune-based TaxSutra Services Pvt Ltd, the company that runs an online information site on tax related subjects under TaxSutra, has raised about $161,000 (Rs 1 crore) from a group of investors, including V Balakrishnan and T V Mohandas Pai, former CFOs and board members of Infosys.

Balakrishnan is currently chairman of Exfinity Ventures while Pai is chairman of Manipal Global Education.

The funds will be used for scaling up and product development.

"Leading corporate boards are struggling with lack of quality information and analysis to mitigate their risks while taking business decisions. TaxSutra provides that critical information backed by a high quality team of founders and professionals," Balakrishnan said.

"We have a host of new product launches lined up over the next 12-18 months that will cater to the information/analysis needs of tax/law professionals," Arun Giri & Ameya Kunte, founders, TaxSutra Services, said in a joint statement.

The company was founded in January 2011 by media professionals Giri, Kunte & Arun Anant. Giri has previously worked at CNBC18 and UTVi Business News, and Kunte has worked with Ernst & Young (now EY) and PwC while Anant, an engineer and management graduate, has worked at UTV News Ltd, Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd, IRIS Ltd, Lintas Worldwide (Lowe & Partners) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

TaxSutra runs four B2B online subscription-based portals on direct tax, indirect tax, transfer pricing (TP) and corporate laws. Its target audience mainly includes tax professionals, directors and policymakers. Its portal tp.taxsutra.com contains a database of TP cases from India.

Amit Kulkarni & Partners, a boutique advisory firm based in Pune, advised TaxSutra on this fundraise.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)