Chennai-based mobile app builder Vajro on Tuesday said that it raised $8.5 million in a Series A round from Kansas City-based growth equity firm Five Elms Capital. 

Founded in 2018 by Baskar, Niwin Santhosh and Raghuraman Ramamurthy, Vajro has close to 150 employees.

It is currently aligned to the ecommerce industry, enabling online stores to build native mobile apps in under 60 minutes, without writing a single line of code.

It is the first mobile app builder to launch live video commerce features from the mobile app and is currently the only one that offers this feature on Shopify, said the company in a press release. 

Five Elms Capital is a growth equity firm that invests in fast-growing B2B (business-to-business) software businesses. It provides capital and resources to help companies accelerate growth and further cement their role as industry leaders.

Vajro’s mission is to democratize app building and make it easy for merchants to create an improved mobile commerce experience thus improving conversion rates.

According to Vajro, more than 2,200 brands from over 150 countries have chosen its platform to accelerate their growth. Leading D2C (direct-to-consumer) brands in India like Juicy Chemistry, Earth Rhythm, AndMe, FreeCultr, Melange Box, Prashanti Sarees, Shrus Eternity, House of Masaba all use Vajro for their mobile apps.