Senapaty, Mohandas Pai pick stakes in CimplyFive

Venture launched by chartered accountants offers web-based compliance solutions

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Once rivals who tried to outdo each other in the  information technology (IT) earnings season every quarter, Wipro veteran Suresh Senapaty and former Infosys Chief Financial Officer T V Mohandas Pai have become co-investors in Cimply Five, a budding venture that offers cloud-based solutions for compliance and finance professionals.

“Cimply Five was conceptualised in July and incorporated in September. With the new Companies Act coming into force, the compliance liabilities of directors and other professionals have increased manifold. Our solutions will help professionals know in one shot what are the returns to be filed and keep up with compliance deadlines,” said Shriram Subramanian, co –founder and director, CimplyFive.

Subramanian, who has tasted success with a proxy advisory firm also backed by Pai, refused to disclose details on stake sold and the amount of investment but said both Pai and Senapaty were upbeat about the idea and readily agreed to support it with investments. CimplyFive would target directors, compliance professionals, private equity and venture capital firms and use a subscription model. “We are targeting scale,”  Subramanian said.

Another former Wipro hand and co-founder Shankar Jaganathan is the Chief Executive of CimplyFive.

Jagannathan, a chartered accountant with three decades experience, was the Corporate Treasurer at Wipro between 1993 and 2003. Passionate about Corporate Governance, Corporate Sustainability and Economic History, Jagnnathan has authored two books, Corporate Disclosures 1553-2007, The Origin of Financial and Business Reports and The Wisdom of Ants, A Short history of Economics. Shankar is on the boards of select Indian companies and teaches at leading management colleges.

Senapaty said his decision to invest in CimplyFive was triggered by the long and close working relationship he had for over two decades with Jaganathan. ‘Enabling good governance is a prerequisite for shareholder value creation. The passion and commitment that I see in Shankar makes me believe that CimplyFive will make rapid progress towards its goal.’ Senapaty is retiring from Wipro in March after 35 years with the firm.

Commenting on the rationale for his investment, Pai said ‘Comprehensive compliance should not be a luxury affordable to only big corporates. Technology can and should make compliance accessible to every small and medium corporate entity. I believe CimplyFive has the potential to do just that.’

The firm recently launched its first tool called BLISS (Board Leaders Integrated Software Solution) which is a digital productivity tool for Company Secretaries that automates routines and provides timely alerts to ensure compliance and good corporate governance.