Plustxt

Plustxt Mobile Solutions Pvt Ltd was a Bangalore-based technology firm that developed a cross-messaging platform optimized for the linguistic diversity of the Indian market. The company was founded in April 2012 by Pratyush Prasanna, an alumnus of IIT-Kharagpur and IIM-Calcutta, along with his former colleagues from Gupshup, Lokesh Chouhan (IIT Bombay) and Parag Arora (IIT Delhi). Lohith V later joined the founding team as CTO. Prasanna's background includes roles at Microsoft, Xerox PARC, and helping start SMSGupshup, experiences that informed the creation of a messaging service tailored for local needs.

The business was established to capitalize on the growing smartphone penetration in India and the high cost of conventional SMS, targeting the large segment of the population that communicates primarily in regional languages. Plustxt launched two applications on the Android platform in January 2013: an English-language messaging app and 'Plustxt India', which supported communication in eight Indian languages, including Hindi, Tamil, and Gujarati. The core service allowed users to send messages over a data connection, integrating with SMS to deliver messages to recipients who did not have the app installed. A distinct feature was its transliteration capability, which converted text typed on a standard English keyboard into regional language scripts, a technology developed in partnership with Reverie Language Technologies.

Plustxt's platform also incorporated robust privacy controls, a significant selling point. Users could prevent recipients from copying or forwarding messages and even recall a message after it was sent, provided it hadn't been read. In April 2013, the company secured an undisclosed amount of angel funding from investors including Mumbai Angels, Bangalore Angels, and InMobi co-founder Amit Gupta. This capital was intended for product development, marketing, and team expansion. Shortly after, in August 2013, having reached a user base of 250,000, Plustxt was acqui-hired by One97 Communications (the parent company of Paytm) for a sum reported to be under $2 million. The acquisition was driven by One97's strategy to integrate local language products to expand its mobile internet services, with the Plustxt team joining One97's operations in Bangalore.

Keywords: Plustxt, mobile messaging, Indian regional languages, text messaging app, transliteration, Pratyush Prasanna, One97 Communications acquisition, Lokesh Chouhan, Parag Arora, messaging privacy, Reverie Language Technologies, Mumbai Angels, local language chat, Indic keyboard, SMS alternative, cross-platform messaging, Bangalore startup, Lohith V, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Amit Gupta