Kerala investment summit allocates Rs 70 Cr to startups

Investments of Rs 70 crore into startups from various sectors were announced on Saturday at the fifth edition of the two-day Seeding Kerala investment summit, organised by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in Kochi.

The startups that received the funds include Sporthood, Astro-Vision Futuretech Pvt Ltd, Bumberry, ilove9months, Entri, and ZappyHire, an official release said.

The announcement was made on the concluding day of the summit in the presence of M Sivasankar, Principal Secretary (Electronics and IT), Kerala government, and Dr Saji Gopinath, CEO, KSUM.

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Bengaluru-based Sporthood, a startup for sports enthusiasts, got investment from SEA Fund, which made its fourth investment in Kerala out of its seven investment ventures.

Founded by Rahul Antony Thomas, Arun V Nair, Nikhilesh M R and Vikram Devare, Sporthood has a community of 30,000 kids and adults subscribers. It has 21 established sports clubs across Bengaluru and Kochi.

Astro-Vision Futuretech Pvt Ltd has got investment from matrimony.com, one of the largest matrimonial companies in India. It's the first investment by the Chennai-based firm.

Astro Vision has been providing Vedic-based astrology solutions to consumers in more than 10 Indian languages for over three decades and has generated more than 110 million horoscopes.

Bumberry, a startup that manufactures eco-friendly and re-usable cloth diapers, has raised funds from Kerala Angel Network (KAN), led by a group of investors, the release said. It is KANs maiden investment in a startup.

Bumberry was founded by Kutty Krishnan, an educator by profession. Bumberry diapers come as natural bamboo cotton pad and pocket diapers.

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Investment for growth

US-based Equifin VC will be investing in Maternia Care Technologies Pvt Ltd, which owns the brand ilove9months, a women-led maternity-focused startup. It is also the maiden investment venture in India by the US firm.

Another startup Entri, a learning app in local languages that has over 1.6 million users, is funded by Good Capital. Founded by Mohammed Hisamuddin, Entri first started providing a database of questions for government recruitment examinations in Malayalam.

Smart Sparks Angel Network will invest in ZappyHire, which gives companies the flexibility on what tools they would like to use, based on their hiring requirements such as assessment and candidate profiling.

On the occasion, officials of Pavizham Oil and Rice handed over its Corporate Social Responsibility fund of Rs 9.4 lakh to startup Red Button as part of the Red Button public safety programme.

The project, to be implemented in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur initially, is about installing a robotic system in public areas to ensure public safety, especially for women, and also bridge the gap between the police and public.

Kochi-based startup Watasalere paid the Rs 6 lakh seed fund to the Kerala government as a goodwill gesture.

KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)