Zzungry and TAC Security raise early-stage rounds of funding
Zzungry
At a time when foodtech players are struggling to attract investors, Bengaluru-based startup Zzungry has secured seed funding from a group of individual Silicon Valley-based investors, including Satish Vasudeva and Madhusudhan Jujare.
Subash Baliga, Sandeep Rana and Ashish Kalya, the founders of the startup, will employ the raised funds towards unit expansion and building revenue channels. The platform, which is currently present in 12 states across the country, offers more than 200 curated dishes. Commenting on the funding, Subash said-
“At Zzungry, our aim is to introduce exotic Indian dishes to a larger audience at affordable prices. With the new investments, we will be setting up new kitchens to expand our footprint in Bengaluru. We will also be using a significant chunk of funds for ramping up operation efficiency and marketing. We are focused on building a scalable and profitable enterprise.”
Presently, Zzungry operates through a delivery model with six operational kitchens in Indiranagar, BTM, HSR Layout, Marathahalli, Electronic City and Whitefield. Prices range from Rs 200 to Rs 320, and Zzungry claims to currently be processing more than 150 orders a day.
Zzungry will soon foray into other verticals and also go beyond the food delivery model. In the coming months, Zzungry plans to enter the retail space with a new category of offering, and will explore avenues like malls and techparks to reach out to a larger consumer base.
The foodtech segment
In the foodtech segment, Swiggy, FoodPanda, Freshmenu and Zomato remain the dominant players. In the recent past, foodtech players like Dazo, TinyOwl (merged with RoadRunnr), and SpoonJoy had shut down, making it fairly evident that the revenue and business models in the segment need to be made more viable so as to raise much needed investments.
TAC
Cyber-security solutions player TAC has raised an undisclosed amount in a Pre-Series A round from the MD of Kedia Securities, Vijay Kedia. He will also be joining the board of directors as a Non-Executive Independent Director. He will also guide TAC in its plan to expand its business outside India.
Founded in 2013 by Trishneet Arora, TAC Security helps corporate giants identify weaknesses within their systems so as to avert hacking incidents. It provides network, application and web security to corporate giants, the Government, and law enforcement agencies.
Earlier this January, the company had launched the TAC-CERT (Cyber Emergency Response Team) service. Citing the importance of security, Vijay Kedia said,
“As we all know, cyber-crime is a bigger threat to business than terrorism. It is estimated that every minute, half a million attack attempts are happening in cyber space. The world is facing an arms race in terms of security. I believe the opportunities available in this space could possibly beat the estimations of $170 billion by 2020 and grow further.”
TAC’s clientele list includes Reliance Industries Limited, Gujarat Police, Punjab Police, International Tractors Limited (Sonalika), AMUL, Avon Cycles, RALSON, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), among others.
Additionally, the company also plans to close its Series A round, which is expected to be close to $10 million, by the end of this fiscal year.
Security segment
Earlier in May, Lux Research had said that venture funding for cyber-security would reach $400 million in 2016, up from $228 million in 2015. With investors’ areas of interest changing, B2B startups are now likely to be in the spotlight, and a surge of investments in such startups is likely on the way.
Recently, Appknox, a Singapore-based mobile security company, had also secured S$875,000 from SeedPlus in its pre-Series A funding round. Last year, digital security firm Uniken has raised $2 million (Rs 12 crore) from Exfinity Venture Partners.
