Startup news and updates: daily roundup (September 6, 2021)

Online retail platform Dukaan raises $11M in pre Series A round (Funding)

Dukaan, a platform that enables small merchants with no programming skills to setup an online store in 30 seconds, has announced that it has raised $11M in a pre Series A round led by 640 Oxford Ventures, with participation from existing investors Snow Leopard Ventures, Lightspeed Partners, and Matrix Partners India.

Vernacular edtech platform Vidyakul raises $500K in bridge round from We Founder Circle, others (Funding)

Startup investment platform We Founder Circle (WFC) has led an investment of $500,000 in Vidyakul, a vernacular after-school e-learning platform. The bridge round also witnessed participation from other investors including JITO Angel Network and Thinkuvate. Vidyakul is aimed at providing after-school e-learning for the state board students in vernacular languages.

Foodtech startup Goodmylk raises $1M in seed round extension from angel investors

Bengaluru-based foodtech startup GoodMylk has raised $1 million in a seed round extension from a clutch of domestic and international angel investors. Till date, the plant-based food startup has raised $1.8 million, according to a release from the company. Funds raised from this round will be used for expanding the product portfolio and distribution for more accessibility across India.

SaaS platform Fieldproxy raises Rs 2 Cr in seed round (Funding)

Fieldproxy, a no-code SaaS platform for improving the productivity of field teams, on Monday announced that it has raised Rs 2 crore as part of its seed round. The current round saw participation from LetsVenture, 2am VC, and magic.fund (which marks its entry into India with the current investment in Fieldproxy).

Deeptech SaaS startup NeuroPixel.AI raises $825K in a seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures (Funding)

Deeptech SaaS startup NeuroPixel.AI has raised $825K in a seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures. Other investors in the round include Entrepreneur First, Huddle, Dexter Angels, and Rishaad Currimjee.

The startup said it will use the fresh capital for scaling up its R&D team to accelerate the transition of its product from beta to production, and for expanding its ‘training set’, a crucial piece of the puzzle for every machine learning algorithm.

Mumbai-based supply chain startup Elixia Tech Solutions raises $1M in pre-Series A round (Funding)

Mumbai-based supply chain startup Elixia Tech Solutions Ltd has raised $1 million in its pre-Series A funding round led by Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund (RVCF) and other angel investors.

According to the official statement, Elixia will deploy the funds to scale up its presence in both domestic and international markets.

NFT-focussed blockchain analytics startup bitsCrunch raises Rs 5.5 Cr in seed round (Funding)

Chennai and Germany-based bitsCrunch, an emerging NFT focussed blockchain analytics startup, has raised a seed round of Rs 5.5 crore ($750,000) from Covalent, Double Peak, GenBlock Capital, Ledger Prime, MEXC Global, and Synaps.

The funds raised will be used for getting the products into production, and for the infrastructure to expand to other blockchains in the space to provide NFT collectors and traders with the best analytics capabilities possible.

Superfood startup Prolgae raises $200K in a seed investment round (Funding)

Prolgae Spirulina, manufacturer and seller of superfood spirulina to various food and medical industries in the country, has raised $200K in a seed funding round from angel investor Vijayan. With this investment, the company plans to increase its production capacities by three times and also roll out new products.

The company is also planning to roll out new spirulina-based food and beverages in 2022. It has also launched spirulina-based protein bars, sweets and more in three flavours recently.

Healthcare startup Biddano raises $2M in pre-Series A1 round (Funding)

Healthcare supply chain platform Biddano on Monday said it has raised $2 million in a pre-Series A1 round from new and existing investors, including Gokul Rajaram, JPIN, Venture Catalysts UK, and AngelList, among others.

The startup said it will use the investment to scale its product development, enter new markets, and for product innovation.

Geniemode raises $2.25M led by Info Edge Ventures (Funding)

Global B2B cross-border sourcing and supply chain technology company, Geniemode, has recently closed its seed round of $2.25 million led by Info Edge Ventures. 

Angel investors including Deepinder Goyal, Kunal Shah, Prashant Malik, Pankaj Gupta and others also participated in the round.

upGrad enters personalised career services segment with 'upGrad Mentorship'

Higher education startup upGrad, which recently became a unicorn, has launched a new offering in the online career counselling space.

The new product, upGrad Mentorship, offers a range of personalised career services, including 1:1 mentoring sessions with industry experts to help working professionals get past the challenges in their career trajectory.

YourStory’s flagship startup-tech and leadership conference will return virtually for its 13th edition on October 25-30, 2021. Sign up for updates on TechSparks or to express your interest in partnerships and speaker opportunities here.

For more on TechSparks 2021, click here.

Applications are now open for Tech30 2021, a list of 30 most promising tech startups from India. Apply or nominate an early-stage startup to become a Tech30 2021 startup here.