The Tech Panda takes a look at recent funding events in the tech ecosystem, seeking to know where the cash is flowing.
Sarvam AI, an Indian startup in Generative AI founded by Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, has announced that it is raising $41 million in Series A round. This funding, led by Lightspeed and supported by Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures, represents the largest raise at this stage for an Indian AI startup.
Hemant Mohapatra, Partner, Lightspeed, reflecting on their global experience in funding leading GenAI ventures, remarked, “Having backed some of the most influential names in GenAI globally, we are excited by Sarvam AI’s unique approach in combining model innovation and application development to build population-scale solutions for India. Lightspeed will be close partners and contribute with our deep capital stack and learnings from our global platform.”
Co-founder of Sarvam AI, Vivek Raghavan, reflecting on his decade long experience in building digital public infrastructure including Aadhaar stated, “I have seen first hand the enormous value in innovating at foundational layers and deploying at population scale. India has demonstrated that it can harness technology differently, and with GenAI we have an opportunity to reimagine how this technology can add value to people’s lives.”
Smart home automation startup Aliste Technologies has raised $1 million in a round led by YourNest Venture Capital and Artha Venture Fund. The round also saw participation from renowned investors like Dholakia Ventures, KRS Jamwal, and Anikarth Ventures, among others. Existing institutional investors in the company include 100X.VC. Aliste, which has built a strong presence in NCR & has now expanded to Bangalore, is seeing phenomenal growth owing to its subscription-based model for its customers.
Anant Ohri, Co-founder of Aliste, said, “We see a major gap in the consumer IoT segment in India. As aspirations of working Indians soar, we believe our solution has the ability to not only provide a well-packaged automation solution but also result in energy savings. Aliste’s products are designed with the luxury and convenience of its users in mind while providing 10 – 15% savings on their monthly electricity bills. Our aim is to save electricity worth $1 Million by 2025.”
Sunil K. Goyal, Managing Director & Fund Manager, YourNest Venture Capital, said, “Aliste’s innovative low capex and subscription model makes it unique and gives it the capability to scale at a rapid pace by targeting young adults in the expanding high-income and upper/middle-income demographics across India. The founding team has already been solving this problem for the last three years since their final year of college and has the motivation and energy to create a large global organisation.”
Anirudh A. Damani, Managing Partner at Artha Venture Fund, adds, “We see unprecedented growth in the automation market from different angles. In the last 5 – 7 years, Indian consumers have warmed up to subscription-based services. Aliste has been able to tap into this changing consumer behaviour and has also managed to keep it affordable. Even on the B2B side, as more Indians resume travel, they expect a high-end experience from the hospitality sector, and hotel chains are well aware of this changing scenario. The surging demand for automation in residential and B2B channels and Aliste’s approach to leverage the market opportunity with a subscription-led model prompted us to invest in the company.”
Raipur, Chhattisgarh-based mental health-tech startup BetterSpace has raised INR4.5 Million in its maiden pre-seed funding round led by prominent startup community-builder and accelerator PedalStart. Prior to this, the startup had remained majorly bootstrapped.
The company will be utilizing the newly-acquired capital towards improving its existing offline and online services, developing a new product range consisting games and toolkits, enhancing marketing and brand visibility, optimizing technology and the app for boosting accessibility across multiple types of devices, attracting and acquiring talent, among other strategic areas.
Shivli Shrivastava & Abhilash Shrivastava, Co-Founder & Director, BetterSpace said, “We are elated to announce our pre-seed round powered by PedalStart – an exciting milestone in the journey of growing BetterSpace. The funds raised through this round shall not just meet our short-term working capital needs, but also ensure our stable, sustainable growth, by enabling BetterSpace to move forward in a cash-positive yet socially impactful manner over the long term. We are immensely grateful to the investors who have placed their faith in us, to help realize our mission and vision of promoting improved mental wellness, emotional resilience and happiness amongst communities, and thus creating a world where everyone has access to quality mental healthcare, regardless of their background or location”.
“In a country like ours where the growing burden of mental health disorders poses a serious concern, it has become imperative to use technology in solving pressing, real-life mental health related challenges. BetterSpace is committed to doing just, while ensuring quality mental health services delivery in a regional, accessible, and affordable manner to various stakeholders across the society. We at PedalStart have been impressed by BetterSpace founders’ innovative and solution-oriented approach, their commitment to embracing technology, and most importantly, could resonate with their vision of creating and nurturing safe-inclusive spaces through a mix of online and offline initiatives focused on mental health, sexuality and disability awareness. We look forward to extending our continued support to BetterSpace to enable them to create positive social impact at scale”, commented by Mr. Manas Pal & Mr. Aditya Darolia, Co-founders, PedalStart.
Marcos Gaming, an Esports and entertainment startup has recently closed a Pre-Seed funding round, led by India Accelerator and Finvolve. The startup primarily works with top professional teams and athletes in various games like BGMI, Clash of clans, CS2 etc., with an intent to build a gaming community and culture across India.
The injected funds will be used for building communities through content, building IP’s and expanding into other esports titles. Work on the holistic approach in esports and entertainment ranging from grassroots to working with some of the biggest gaming influencers in India.
Sudhir Kulria, Founder, Marcos Gaming says, “India’s esports and entertainment system is extremely fragmented. The growth of esports in India has been exponential in India with StarSports, Jio entering the ecosystem. We believe Esports will be the next big thing after Cricket in India. The Indian government has been looking at esports and entertainment and various state authorities have already started working in developing esports.”
Abhay Chawla, Co-Founder & COO, India Accelerator, said, “We are thrilled to announce the culmination of a strategic partnership as India Accelerator and Finvolve successfully close the investment round for Marcos Gaming. This marks a significant milestone in our collective pursuit of supporting ground-breaking ventures in the gaming industry. India Accelerator, with its extensive experience in seed-stage investments, and Finvolve, a stalwart in the financial evolution landscape, are proud to collaborate in fueling Marcos Gaming’s journey.”
“India Accelerator’s commitment to fostering innovation aligns seamlessly with Finvolve’s vision for transformative investments. Marcos Gaming, with its promising trajectory, embodies the kind of forward-thinking ventures we are eager to support. Our joint investment underscores our confidence in the team’s capabilities and the potential for Marcos Gaming to emerge as a trailblazer in the gaming sector”, Abhay added.
BluSmart has raised $24 million (INR 200 crores) in a new equity round in December 2023, which saw participation and over-subscription from existing investors, founders and the leadership team. BluSmart is India’s largest born-electric, full-stack and fully integrated EV Ride Hailing service and EV charging infrastructure network.
“It has been a landmark year for BluSmart with great achievements like the historic milestone of completion of 10 million electric trips and key industry recognitions. We will continue to expand our brand promise of zero ride denials, on time service and clean mobility to more geographies. The overwhelming support for the rights issue by our investors and belief exhibited by leading Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) shows exceptional confidence in our mission” said Anmol Singh Jaggi, Co-founder and CEO of BluSmart.
Tushar Garg, CEO of BluSmart Charging business added: “EV Charging Infrastructure is the biggest bottleneck for large-scale EV adoption and is also the single largest opportunity. Cities have challenges with finite prime locations and lack of adequate power load. BluSmart is building large EV Charging Superhubs at prime locations across Delhi NCR & Bangalore with industry leading utilization. Having dispensed 50+ million units of electricity till date, our EV Charging network has real world experience of powering 330+ million electric kms and are playing a pivotal role in accelerating the EV adoption in India”.
Adya.ai, a digital commerce & technology solution provider, has raised INR 10.5 crores in its pre-series A funding round. The round was led by Indian Angel Network’s investors Uday Chatterjee, Romesh Sobti, Sri Prakash, and Hari Balasubramanian. Out of the entire money, INR 3.75 Cr has been raised by the Indian Angel Network (IAN). Other strategic investors also participated underscoring the widespread industry belief in the company’s trajectory.
Adya.ai’s Founder, Shayak Mazumder, commented: “ONDC stands as a testament to India’s digital prowess, following the impactful implementation of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Aadhaar. We at Adya.ai are thrilled to harness our technological expertise to contribute to this transformative force, fostering a digital ecosystem that is not only inclusive but truly transformative for India’s economy”.
Uday Chatterjee, Angel Investor and Business Leader, said “Adya.ai is a pioneer providing ONDC ATMA (Atmanirbhar Technology Marketplace by Adya.ai) – an end to end solution built on the ONDC protocol across four domains (retail, logistics, financial services and mobility) in the form of a self serve app studio that will enable enterprises to create their own Apps on ONDC, customise design and UX, manage cloud, security and access controls, integrate inside their existing apps and connect to their existing tech stack. ONDC is the next master protocol or Digital Public Good which is likely to see explosive growth in the next few years. Adya.ai is ideally positioned to benefit from this growth and has already onboarded a number of public and private sector banks, fintechs and large consumer goods companies as their clients. We are delighted to support Adya.ai in the current fundraising and we hope to energise India’s digital story through Adya.ai.”
zbyte, a Web3 infrastructure platform, launched its mainnet, to bridge the gap between Web2 and Web3 technologies. The launch is backed by its $4 million capital raise with an additional $1m committed by investors- prominent participants in the investment round are the likes of Cartography Capital and Quarterback Financial.
Co-Founder Krish Kupathil says, “At zbyte, we’re not just building a platform; we’re shaping the future of Web3 development. Our mainnet is designed to empower developers, bringing Web2 ease and familiarity to the Web3 environment. We’re excited to see how this will accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology.”
Dan Quintero of Cartography Capital said “Investing in zbyte was a strategic decision for us. Their vision of making Web3 accessible to the masses and their commitment to simplifying the development process is truly groundbreaking. We believe zbyte is set to be a key player in scaling Web3 adoption.”
This fund raise will accelerate their ambitious roadmap. Onboarding various talented developer communities, organizing hackathons, bringing the power of Web3 to businesses and developers across various domains and use cases by leveraging the power of the zbyte platform, while aggressively decentralizing and empowering the zbyte community.
Aerial logistics drone startup BonV Aero has raised INR 6 Crore in a round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV). Funds will be primarily directed towards client demonstrations, team expansion and internal R&D focused on enhancing products for customers, researching propulsion systems and advancing power plants.
Madhukar Bhardwaj, Sr. Vice President, Inflection Point Ventures, says, “Aerial logistics has been a boon during emergencies, however it comes with its own challenges. Understanding the power of aerial space transportation, BonV Aero has developed a state of art technology and is one of India’s pioneering multi-utility electrical air vehicle having demonstrated capability of carrying 50 kilos in hilly regions, providing much needed relief during natural calamities and when surface movements are unfavourable. These drones are clean, smart, sustainable, and most importantly safe and affordable. With one of its kind innovative products, the company is sure to scale business across borders and we at IPV look forward to extending our strategic support.”
Satyabrata Satapathy, CEO & Co-Founder, BonV Aero, says, “Funds will be deployed to mature our current Aerial Platform and conduct demonstrations to scale orders in this segment. The support from IPV investors significantly bolsters our confidence in the path we’ve travelled and our vision to revolutionize aerial mobility for both goods and people in India and worldwide. Personally, I appreciate the seamless deal flow, characterized by sharp timelines, as we firmly believe that, in addition to financial backing, time is a critical factor in any startup journey. We also extend our gratitude to Dynamic Orbits team, our advisors and mentors for their constant support in our fund raise and growth journey.”
BonV Aero is incubated at AIC CV Raman Global University, Odisha and have secured the HDFC CSR Social Impact Grant. They’ve partnered with respected institutions like IIT Mandi and Bhubaneswar and recognized among the top 10 startups selected by the Indian Army’s Army Design Bureau (ADB). Collaborations with IITs drive innovation, and nods from Headstart Network Foundation and NITI Aayog highlight their role in India’s innovation landscape.
Bengaluru-based startup STAN, a gaming platforms in India, successfully closed its Pre-Series A funding round, securing $2.7 million. The funding round saw participation from prominent new investors in Aptos Labs, Pix Capital, Maelstrom Fund, GFR Fund and returning investors in General Catalyst, signifying enhanced interest from the global investors in the Indian gaming industry. The round also was supported by CoinDCX Ventures, Climber Capital, TDV Partners, and Coinswitch Ventures.
With th? n?wly s?cur?d funds, the company aims to democratize infrastructur? for the creators, leverage AI to develop a fluid community architecture and facilitate personalization for us?rs, and collaborat? with gaming l?g?nds. Additionally, Stan had raised $2.5 million in May 2022 as part of its s??d funding led by General Catalyst, with participation from B?tt?r Capital, and Eximius V?ntur?s, among oth?rs.
Parth Chadha, Co-founder of STAN said, “The Indian market today presents a lot of challenge for the creators to monetize from their followers and these creators have to move to multiple platforms to be able to learn and push for monetization. Stan intends to tap into the creator supply and help them grow their fanbase and monetize on Stan from Day 1. Stan has been working actively to help build the engaged gaming creator base in the country around common interests, and has tasted success with some of its creators participating in Big Boss 17!”
Anand Chandrasekaran, Partner, General Catalyst shared, “We have been pleased with the progress and growth at STAN since their offerings launched 1.5 years back. We have been excited to see many esports superstars use them as the core platform to engage with their fans. In a macro environment where esports has now been duly recognized as a sport in India, General Catalyst is excited to continue to support the team.”
Embedded Finance startup Fixerra Pvt Ltd, formerly Fixed Invest, has announced that it has raised INR 14 crore in a seed round from marquee Angel investors and family offices.
Prominent industry leaders like Jaideep Hansraj, Managing Director of Kotak securities, Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman of Shailesh Haribhakti & Associates, Oisharya Das, CEO of Kotak Private were some of the investors who also participated in this round. The round also witnessed investments from the family office of Harish Shah, a veteran industrialist and Managing Director of Signet Excipients Pvt Ltd along with angel investor Shivang Desai.
With the fundraise, Fixerra also announces that it has rebranded itself from its earlier avatar Fixed Invest, which is a marketplace for Fixed Deposits. With the rebranding Fixerra expands its horizon to be comprehensive banking as a service provider. Fixerra will help digital businesses launch banking products quickly and compliantly.
Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman of Shailesh Haribhakti and Associates, said, “We are excited to back Fixerra’s vision to bridge a gap between banks and fintechs that helps enable consumers to explore a broader range of superior banking services.”
Founder and CEO of Fixerra, Akshar Shah, outlined the company’s strategic vision, saying, “We want to become a digital mall for banks. Over the next 3 years, we are going to focus on building infrastructure for marketplaces across multiple banking products.”
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