Growlab

Used two-wheeler sale-purchase platform Beepkart raises USD 9 million

Y Combinator backs Shopr TV's $1.7m seed round

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Snapmint raises $21 million in mix of equity, debt fund!

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Digital diagnostic startup 5C Network raises $ 4.6 million.

growlab

Tesla’s early investor Tim Draper backs Indian smart home appliance start-up Up

Beauty startup Vanity Wagon raises $2 million in funding

Logistics startup Hackle secures early-stage funding from Pescafresh, Elara India

Agri startup Arya.ag expects fourfold jump in revenue at $175 m this fiscal

Vance raises $5.8 Mn in seed round

SAVEO is the one stop solution for all your pharmacy needs

razorpay acquires poshvine

കേരളം കാത്തിരിക്കുകയാണ് ആ മഹാസംഗമത്തെ...അതെ സംരംഭകരുടേയും, സംരംഭങ്ങളുടെയും, നിക്ഷേപകരുടെയും സംഗമത്തെ...കേരളത്തിന്റെ സാമ്പത്തിക തലസ്ഥാനം ആതിഥ്യമരുളാൻ തയ്യാറെടുക്കുകയാണ്...കേരളം സംരംഭകത്വത്തെ കൂടുതൽ പിന്തുണയ്ക്കാൻ തുടങ്ങിയിരിക്കുന്നു, കൂടാതെ സ്വന്തം ബിസിനസ്സ് തുടങ്ങാനുള്ള താൽപര്യം ജനങ്ങളിൽ വളർന്നു വന്നിരിക്കുന്നു. കേരളത്തിൽ ഉടനീളം, എല്ലാ നഗരങ്ങളിലും, പട്ടണങ്ങളിലും, ഗ്രാമങ്ങളിലും, എല്ലാ വീടുകളിലും പോലും സംരംഭങ്ങൾ വളരട്ടെ...
ബ്രമ്മ ലേണിംഗ് സൊല്യൂഷൻസുമായി സഹകരിച്ച് സംഘടിപ്പിക്കുന്ന ഇൻവെസ്റ്റ് കേരള എന്ന നിക്ഷേപകരുടെയും സംരംഭകരുടേയും സംഗമം ജന്മംകൊടുക്കുക, പുത്തൻ ബിസിനസ്സ് സംരംഭങ്ങൾക്കായിരിക്കും...

AR Ranjith

Founded in July 2021, EVIFY is a full-stack, tech-enabled green logistics company that provides end-to-end logistics solutions. It has partnered with BigBasket, Swiggy, and Ecom Express, and will soon start working with Flipkart, Delhivery, Porter, and Shadowfax.

Devrishi Arrora, Pragya Mittal, and her husband, Vineet Mittal, have been friends for over 10 years. For five years of those, Devrishi provided logistics services for pan-India shipping of solar panels manufactured by Vineet and Pragya's company, Navitas Green Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
The trio zeroed in on a new business plan amid the lockdown as the logistics industry saw unprecedented growth, with online deliveries becoming routine in every household.
Taking it ahead, Pragya and Devrishi felt a need to accelerate the creation of a national infrastructure for green, sustainable logistics services. In July 2021, they launched Surat-based green logistics startup EVIFY.
The B2B startup is a “full-stack, tech-enabled green logistics company that provides end-to-end first, mid, and last-mile logistics solutions.
Presently operational in Surat, EVIFY combines technology solutions and logistics infrastructure to offer various services to delivery players in FMCG, ecommerce, and other industries keen to replace traditional vehicles with EV fleets.
What does it solve?
EVIFY’s logistics solutions give businesses access to full fleet management, driver management, battery management, and technology solutions such as telematics. It also helps with financing and loan management, credit risk analysis, and key fleet insights.
“Our tech platform provides customers with the flexibility and convenience of selecting transportation and people that are the best fit for their freight requirements. The integrated battery management system (BMS) and sensors in the vehicle capture all data on the battery's health, including the charge ratio, time spent at each authorised spot, geo-fencing, driver riding patterns, and the location of the driver,” says Devrishi, Founder and CEO of EVIFY.
The data is transmitted in real-time, enabling any necessary adjustments to the products/services and enhancement of quality.
Eveeto is the logistics solutions wing of EVIFY and focuses on processes about EV acquisition, vehicle maintenance, and delegation of demand following client needs. Eveeto also focuses on hiring, taking care of EV drivers, and ensuring all deliveries happen on time.

Fintech startup EarlySalary, which offers instant cash loans and salary advances, has raised $110 million in a Series D round led by TPG’s The Rise Fund and Norwest Venture Partners. Existing investor Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Limited also participated in the round.

This is EarlySalary’s largest fund raise to date, and the company confirmed its valuation to $300 million. The company had raised $34 million in previous rounds from Eight Roads, Chiratae Ventures, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Limited, and angel investors.
The latest investment will enable EarlySalary to grow its business significantly in the next 24 months. The Series D round of $110 million includes a secondary sale. Unitus Capital acted as the exclusive advisor for the transaction.
Founded by Akshay Mehrotra and Ashish Goyal, in 2015, Pune-based EarlySalary provides accessible financial lending solutions of up to Rs 5 lakh to working professionals. The company expanded into the affordability segment and introduced the buy now, pay later (BNPL) service to customers, with a focus on education, health, and consumer product financing.
Commenting on this funding, Akshay Mehrotra, Co-founder and CEO, EarlySalary, said, “We believe in a customer-first approach to providing credit to young middle-income Indians and we are thankful for the trust millions of Indians have put in us. As our customers’ aspirations and credit needs grow, we will focus to continue to retain their trust and grow with them. The funding will not only help us in expanding our cash business but also build an array of capabilities to efficiently serve a larger segment of customers. We are confident in our ability to keep innovating and achieving 10x large growth in our customer base.”
With a team size of over 500 members, the company claims to have rapidly expanded its presence from 18 cities to over 150 cities and increased its customer base to 1 million customers, with 12 million app downloads.
Akshay Tanna, Partner at TPG, said, "Through its innovative platform, EarlySalary delivers a critical financial service to the growing, yet underserved, middle-income segment in India. By providing modest, short-duration loans at competitive rates, EarlySalary is improving the financial health of its customer base and empowering them to finance things like upskilling courses, healthcare needs, personal emergencies, and short-term cash-flow mismatches. Akshay and Ashish have built a world-class team and a market-leading product that is poised to continue to meet the needs of India’s rising middle class and we are delighted to be a part of its next chapter of growth.”

Arham Partap, a mechanical engineering graduate from NorthCap University, Gurugram, realised the gap in the logistics sector while working in his family business involving trading of bulk commodities.
“In February 2019, the business was in turmoil. I had the responsibility of managing logistics, a key component of any trading business. We had our own trucks and tankers, but I realised how cumbersome the entire process was. In six months, I could see many gaps in the processes and wondered why they had not been addressed yet,” Arham recalls.
In September 2019, Arham launched tech-first logistics startup Trucknetic. He started with one customer, got another, and by 2019 left his family business to operat his company full time.
Headquartered in New Delhi with offices in Gujarat and Uttarakhand, Trucknetic is a digital freight platform that connects shippers with carriers. Its marketplace uses AI, machine learning, and other proprietary software to function as a central portal for front loads and return loads.
Trucknetic was started with an initial investment of Rs 3 crore.
What does it solve?
The platform comprises two applications: Trucknetic Carrier, for fleet owners and transporters; and Trucknetic Shipper, which caters to individuals, traders, MSMEs, and corporates.
The pain point the startup is solving is the return load problem, which costs the Indian economy up to $50 billion annually. Trucks usually run empty on their way back, which means fuel wastage and higher costs for the carrier and shipper.
Trucknetic aims to reduce empty running and improve asset utilisation to reduce transportation costs and eventually cut the carbon footprint.
How does it work?
The logistics startup provides a one-stop solution for all types of trucks and intra-city, inter-city, and line haul movements across India.
Shippers log on to the app, fill in their movement details such as to and from location, commodity details, and book from the available trucks. They can also avail insurance and credit facilities on the platform.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a startup challenge with Rs 1 crore grants for three winners that develop innovations across the millet value chain.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced the "Millet Challenge" for startups, with a seed grant of Rs 1 crore each to three winners to design and develop innovative solutions for and across the millets value chain.

She also announced Rs 25 crore funding by NABARD under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, for establishment of Millet Value Chain Park, incubation centre for processing, value addition, and capacity building for promotion of millets.
Sitharaman was speaking at Millet Conclave 2022 organised jointly by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), University of Agricultural Sciences and NABARD in Raichur.
"Soon within a week or 10 days, I will have the NITI Aayog announce a challenge for startups, all focusing on millet, millet-related matters, and that challenge will be thrown open to anyone who wants to participate, inclusive of young minds who wants to be associated with startups, to take up the challenge and provide solutions through innovative ways," she said.
Noting that before December the announcement of the winner will be made, she said that the Millet Challenge will award seed grants of Rs 1 crore each to three winners, Rs 20 lakh each to 15 selected candidates, and Rs 10 lakh each to 15 other selected candidates.
The Minister also urged large companies which deal with millet processing, particularly to focus on the backward Kalyana Karnataka, and a brand be created for this region of the state.
"Like Kodagu and Araku means coffee, Kalyana Karnataka means millet. That kind of branding and powerful marketing should become exercise. I invite startups to work with the kind of companies which can help us brand millets from India to reach all countries of the world, particularly when we are looking for healthy alternative food," she said.
Sitharaman also expressed concern over a report that there is a drop of about 60 percent of land under cultivation of millets, and that too in a state which gives Rs 10,000 per acre as incentive to grow millets.
"Seriously, there is a need to come out with a suggestion on what is the cause? Is it just the market or anything else, we need to know that," she said.
Pointing out that Karnataka is a leading producer of millets, the Finance Minister said, India in the global scenario is the highest producer of millets and its fifth largest exporter.
She listed out seven reasons why more emphasis should be put on millet production, like nutritional security, Atmanirbhar Bharat, women participation, scope of value addition, employment generation, startup environment, and climate resilience.

New Delhi-based startup Kings Coffee offers a range of Vietnamese coffee products, such as ready-to-drink and ground coffees. It is said that, in the 19th century, the French brought the coffee crop to Vietnam and made coffee popular among the people and the king of the country. Over time, it became the king’s favourite, and, as a result, coffee in Vietnam came to be known as the king’s coffee.
“Vietnamese coffee has a strong taste because the beans are roasted on low heat for 15 minutes. Their coffee blends are delicious. I realised this during a business trip to Vietnam, where I saw a coffee shop at every two minutes of distance,” says Abhishek Khurana, Founder, Kings Coffee.
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Inspired by the coffee culture in Vietnam, Abhishek launched Kings Coffee in India in 2017. The New Delhi-based startup offers a range of ready-to-drink coffee and pour-over coffee made from beans sourced from Vietnam.
Before turning an entrepreneur, Abhishek was engaged in his family business. Later, his interest in the F&B industry and his passion to start something of his own led him to start this coffee venture.
What’s brewing?
Kings Coffee offers a range of ready-to-drink cold coffee and pour-over coffee, besides coffee beans and milkshakes.
The ready-to-drink cold coffee comes in a 280-ml glass bottle, priced at Rs 139, and a 320-ml can priced at Rs 250. The bottled coffee comes in original, mocha, latte, hazelnut, and vanilla flavours, while the lactose-free coffee in cans comes in the original and mocha flavours. For coffee aficionados, there are medium and dark-roasted pour-over coffee brew packs—100 grams, priced at Rs 350.

With 80 percent women employees, JITO Angel Network invests in early-stage startups from seed to Series A rounds. Some of its portfolio companies include NewsReach, Pickright, BHyve, Saarthi Pedagogy, Yangpoo, GalaxyCard, and KopyKitab, among others.

In FY22, Mumbai-based JITO Angel Networksealed the highest number of deals, with investments in 28 Indian startups after going through a pool of over 1,250 applications received throughout the year.

unil Kumar Singhvi, Vice Chairman, JITO Angel Network, says, “FY21-22 was a stellar year in terms of both investments made and returns gained on exits. We witnessed a rise in the quantum of business ventures, and we are pleased to create opportunities for emerging founders and entrepreneurs to strengthen their overall business structure and achieve their entrepreneurial visions.”

However, the angel fund has one unique ground rule -- it strictly adheres to the principles of Jainism, and despite business metrics, it takes interest in early-stage startups that do not go against the religion’s values. So, startups dealing with alcohol, non-vegetarianism, harming animals directly or indirectly and any kind of violence are a dealbreaker.

Investment thesis Founded in 2017, JITO Angel Network — with about 400 angel investors — invests mostly in early-stage startups from seed to Series A stage. The network has done follow-up growth stage investments in seven to eight startups till now. JITO has invested over Rs 106 crore in 56 companies, boasting a combined value of over Rs 300 crore. Some of its portfolio companies include NewsReach (media-tech), Pickright Technologies (wealthtech), BHyve (future of work), Saarthi Pedagogy and Yangpoo (edtech), GalaxyCard (fintech), KopyKitab (digital library), SpoofSense (face recognition), PlantVita (plant nutraceutical), etc.

he network claims to have little to no competition from foreign venture capital (VC) firms as they mostly infuse funds in late-stage startups with good revenue numbers and would not risk investing in early-stage startups. Talking about competition from domestic funds and investors, Pooja says, India does not have another angel network or micro seed fund compared to JITO, which brings resources and expert access to over 45,000 members hailing from business families, over 1,000 CXOs and CEOs, and several Fortune 500 companies.

Source: YOURSTORY

Convertedin, a marketing operations system for e-commerce brands, has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Saudi Arabia- headquartered Merak Capital with participation from 500 Global and MSAS.

Founded in 2019 by Mohamed Atef, Mohamed Fergany and Mustafa Raslan, Convertedin aims to support brands and businesses drive e-commerce sales and grow their revenue all from a single platform. With brands making the shift to e-commerce sales, they develop vast amounts of fragmented data. Convertedin can help make use of this data by unifying zero-party and first-party data, unlocking the value of businesses, creating marketing efficiencies, and having a singular focus on growing revenue.

Source: StartupScene

An ecommerce company is as good as its last order. This is defined by how it fulfills last-mile delivery or the last leg of its supply chain. Last-mile logistics should be covered at lightning-fast speed to churn out a satisfied customer base.
In a bid to empower Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to do more, Sourabh Chatterjee began Uncle delivery in June last year. Since then, it has grown to have a driver base of over 86,000 drivers and an active user base of near 24,000 users.
Currently Uncle Delivery operates in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad and employs nearly 235 people.
“They don't have to deal with the struggles of negotiating prices, settling for an unsuitable vehicle due to non-availability nearby. Uncle delivery brings to them convenient and low-cost solutions at their doorstep, that a traditional logistics market fails to offer,” shares Sourabh Chatterjee, Executive Director, Uncle Delivery.

Funding and way ahead
Investments into Uncle Delivery are led by an undisclosed group of private investors. It considers Porter to be its closest rival. This is primarily because Uncle Delivery focuses on the movement of goods within a given region and not between cities. “However, the current focus is only on same-day, intra-city on-demand delivery. With the case of Porter, their main business is also intracity goods movement, quite similar to ours,” says Sourabh.
Uncle Delivery offers users services across three categories–two Wheelers (for smaller goods), three wheelers for slightly larger goods and trucks. “The different vehicle types in our platform are priced in such a way that we will be a cheaper (rightly priced) alternative in the market. So, users will find our platform to be attractive,
The gig economy
Currently, the gig economy in India is looking to be formalised. A study from NITI Aayog estimates that nearly 77 lakh workers were engaged in the gig economy in 2020-21, and this number is estimated to grow to nearly 2.35 crore workers by 29-2030.
The report titled India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy further said gig workers are expected to form 6.7% of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1% of the total livelihood in India by 2029-30.
While its competitors often penalise workers, Uncle Delivery does not implement this practice. “We offer affordable services to our users with high earnings for drivers,” says Sourabh, adding that the company does not penalise drivers for inactivity and does not impose minimum login hours.
“To ensure drivers have a good earning, apart from the price of the order (post deducting our commission), we also provide milestone-based incentives to drivers. A highly active driver on our platform will be able to earn much more than what is possible on other platforms,” he further explains.

Mojocare, a full-stack health and wellness startup, on Monday has raised $20.6 million (Rs 160 crore) in Series A round led by B Capital and existing investors Chiratae Ventures, Sequoia India’s Surge, and Better Capital.
The round also saw participation from some of India's top angel investors and leading industry giants like Vineet Jain (MD, Times Group), Kunal Shah (Founder, CRED), Ankit Nagori (Founder of Curefoods), Adrian Auon (Founder and CEO, Forward), Sajid Rahman (Founder and CEO, Telenor Health), Ravi Bhushan (Founder and CEO, Brightchamps), and Vivekananda HR (CEO and Founder, Bounce).
The Bengaluru-based company will use the funds to expand its product, content, and care delivery teams, strengthen and diversify its product portfolio, and scale across omnichannel GTMs with a distribution-first approach.
Founded by Ashwin Swaminathan and Rajat Gupta in May 2021, Mojocare offers personalised and full-stack care across sexual wellness, women's wellness, mental wellness, and hair loss. The personalised care delivery system assists users in managing chronic and lifestyle-driven illnesses across specialised wellness.
In October 2020, Mojocare raised $3.08 million (Rs 24 crore) in seed funding from Chiratae Ventures, Sequoia India’s Surge along with a group of angel investors.

Source: Yourstory

OneOrder, an Egyptian e-commerce platform that provides food supplies to hotels, restaurants and cafes, has secured $6.5 million from Contact Factoring, a subsidiary of Contact Financial Holding.

Founded in 2022 by Egyptian restaurateur Tamer Amer, OneOrder aims to support the hospitality sector in sourcing fresh and packaged food products directly from suppliers through its AI platform.

"In OneOrder, we are well aware of the gaps in the HORECA supply chain, not only in Egypt but across the MENA region,” Amer tells StartupScene. “We look forward to filling this gap and expanding our solutions and geographic reach through this partnership, allowing us to realize our vision towards creating a powerful digital environment that encourages restaurant owners to procure online, which is currently the biggest challenge we face."

Source: StartupScene

Procurified, a UAE-based construction tech startup, has raised $1.1 million in its seed round led by DIFC-based Aditum Investment Management, with participation from US-based Signal Peak Ventures, Al Hathboor Group, Empede Capital and angel investors.

Founded in 2019 by Marc Lemmens and Rupert Tait, Procurified aims to connect buyers to their vendors to automate the very manual excel and PDF-reliant process of project bidding. The new funding will be used to grow the team to accelerate the growth of the startup.

“We are delighted to have closed our seed round with really great investors,” Rupert Tait, co-founder of Procurified, tells StartupScene. “Our priority now is to establish an awesome team so we are hiring for key roles in product, engineering and sales. We are excited about our ambitious growth trajectory, with our Series A Round in the next 12-18 months.”

Source: StartupScene

Sigma Fit, an Egypt-based startup focusing on tech-wearables, was selected as one of the top 50 startups in Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) competition this year. The startup was chosen from a pool of 21,000 applicants from across 54 African countries.

The ABH competition is a flagship philanthropic programme established by the Jack Ma Foundation to identify and support impactful entrepreneurs across the continent. The competition awards a pool of $1.5 million in grant money to 10 finalists who are working to solve critical issues in their local communities and who demonstrate values such as resilience, innovation and leadership.

Source: StartupScene

Barakah, a KSA-based food delivery startup, raised $300,000 in a pre-seed round from Alriyadah Investments, a Saudi real estate and energy development fund.

Founded in 2021 by Rabah Habiss and Munira AlMuammar, Barakah tackles food waste by allowing restaurants, hotels, bakeries and grocery stores to list their surplus food on its app for consumers to buy at a discount.

According to the startup, food waste amounts to $1.2 trillion globally, representing 10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. To address this socio-economic issue, Barakah looked to create the first discounted surplus marketplace in Saudi Arabia. In doing so, they enable businesses to monetise unsold food, and allow consumers to access affordable meals, all while saving food from going to waste.

Source: Startup Scene

Bloom, a Sudan-based fintech startup, has raised a $6.5 million Seed round backed by Visa, Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital (GFC), Goodwater Capital, and UAE-based early- stage firm Venture Souq, among other angel investors.

Founded in 2021 by Ahmed Ismail, Youcef Oudjidane, Khalid Keenan and Abdigani Diriye, Bloom helps mitigate the effects of inflation for Sudanese individuals. It offers accounts for users to save in U.S. dollars and buy and spend in Sudanese pounds.

Source: StartupScene

Linkstar, a Karachi-based AI powered web space, raised a pre-seed valuation at $5 million from SOSV, a US-based venture capital firm, as well as Sarmayacar and K3 Diversity Ventures.

Founded in January 2022 by Aizaz Nayyer, Ali Raza, and Adeel Abid, the startup enables freelancers and influencers to sell Direct-to-consumer (D2C) services through its AI-powered web space. The startup aims to give power back to creators through its platform. To date, Linkstar has 15,000 users, according to the startup.

Source: StartupScene