Locally-developed cashback coupon app start-up, SNAPnSAVE, has secured R14 million from tech venture capital fund Kalon Venture Partners and retail solutions company Smollan Group.

The companies have each invested R7 million to acquire minority stakes in SNAPnSAVE.

According to Roger Bezuidenhout, head of marketing, the company had been canvassing and looking for key investment partners for some time.

"Kalon are very well-versed in the tech start-up space and able to offer support through this growth period, while Smollan fills the space around brands and brand engagement and the shopper retail space."

Smollan has a presence in more than 50 countries and provides services to over 500 000 retailers, ensuring a clear channel for SNAPnSAVE to expand into.

Bezuidenhout adds the funding will aid the company's ambitions of moving into other regions in Africa, particularly Nigeria as it is earmarked as a possible next step.

"We are also keen on moving into international markets. Apart from the expansion, the funding will equally be used for key team structure, to manage tech, support, marketing and sales."

The mobile app, which was created in 2015 with the aim to reinvent the traditional savings coupon methods, has since been downloaded 200 000 times and aims to grow this to 500 000 in the next 18 months.

SNAPnSAVE CEO Mark Bradshaw adds the partnership is strategic in that it allows the company to bring on board investors who have experience in building successful start-ups.

"We can now provide a better app user experience to our ‘snappers' and be linked closer to the retail market, where we bring consumers even more cashback opportunities."

The app is available for download from iTunes and Google Play. Once downloaded, users can browse for special offers and ‘book' them. After they have bought the product, shoppers snap their till slip and upload it to claim savings in cash and not points. The savings then go into an e-wallet on the app which users can have deposited into their account or spend at other shops.

To date, the app has paid out R3.5 million in savings to consumers.

Clive Butkow, CEO of Kalon, says the investment formed part of his firm's strategy to position itself as the pre-eminent venture capital company in Africa, investing in disruptive digital technologies solving African problems.

"We are excited about the investment and its growth opportunities locally, into Africa and globally," he notes.