[Funding roundup] Taghive, Aarna Networks, Deciwood, Kohbee, Fantico, Perfora and more announce early-stage deals

Edtech startup TagHive bags $2.5M Series A funding led by Forest Partners

TagHive, a Samsung Ventures-backed edtech startup, announced it has raised $2.5 million in Series A funding led by Forest Partners, an alternative investment firm based in South Korea.

In a statement, TagHive said it plans to use the funds to ramp up technology upgrades and expand local teams in India to meet growing demand for its smart learning platform.

TagHive is on a mission to solve education inequality and to disrupt India’s public schooling ecosystem by improving classroom learning with smart technology.

According to TagHive Founder and CEO Pankaj Agarwal, the company plans to expand into at least 5,000 schools in India by 2022.

Aarna Networks raises $3.5M in seed funding from SVQuad Ventures, Inventus Capital, RiSO Capital, Arka Ventures, others

Software and edge computing firm Aarna Networks announced it has secured $3.5 million in seed funding from SVQuad Ventures, with participation from Inventus Capital, RiSO Capital and Arka Ventures, and more.

Aarna Networks intends to utilise the funds to hire additional engineering talent and to expand its sales efforts, it said in a statement.

Aarna Networks is an open-source software company building a platform for orchestration, lifecycle management, and automation of 5G network services and edge computing applications.

Its flagship product, AMCOP (Aarna Networks Multi-cluster Orchestration Platform), automates cloud-native 5G network services and edge computing applications using intent-based orchestration, lifecycle management, and real-time closed-loop automation.

CoCreate Ventures and PESVL invest $400K in deeptech startups TeaminUp and Assert

CoCreate Ventures, a Bengaluru-based 'Venture Studio' and a fund, along with PES University Venture Labs (PVL), announced they've invested $200,000 each in Bengaluru-based startups TeaminUp and Assert.

TeaminUp is a deeptech startup helping build organisations where teams are formed by connecting users with required skills and cultural fitment. Assert helps the industry to hire based on certified micro-skills demonstrated against real industry problems.

With the funding, both startups will use their funds for the initial validation of their products.

"This investment is testimony to the commitment we have in building great companies from campus. Our Venture Studio model, where we validate, build and scale startups on campus is delivering great results for all stakeholders." said Suresh Narasimha, Founder of CoCreate Ventures and Partner at PESVL.

ALSO READ

[Weekly funding roundup Dec 13-17] Capital inflow continues to remain strong

Bluetooth speaker brand Deciwood raises $200K from Shuru Up

Deciwood, an Indian brand that makes Bluetooth speakers, announced it has closed funding of $200,000 led by digital fundraising platform Shuru Up. The other participants in this funding round included Ankit Kedia, Founder, Capital-A; Arun Gupta, Founder, MoMagic; and Let’sVenture and India Accelerator.

Deciwood will use the new funding to invest in R&D, acquire new customers, and expand its service and dealer network. 

Ananya Meena, Founder, Deciwood said, "Our audio technology has the potential to disrupt the audio industry. This round of investment will aid us in achieving our goal of creating high-quality items and establishing ourselves as a brand.”

Edtech platform Kohbee raises $235K in pre-seed round led by Dineout's Ankit Mehrotra and Fitso's Saurabh Aggarwal

Edtech platform Kohbee, which helps online educators manage their businesses end-to-end, announced it has raised $235,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by a group of angel investors that included Ankit Mehrotra (CEO, Dineout), Saurabh Aggarwal (Founder, Fitso), Ah! Ventures, Fortunexus and others.

Founded by Rohan Sinha and Shashwat Aditya, Kohbee's platform aims to make it easy for online educators to manage and grow their classes. Kohbee, launched in July 2021, is being used by 30,000 content creators, yoga trainers, teachers and many more, the startup claims.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, Kohbee’s app is free, secure and is designed to enable anyone to create a website, collect leads, sell courses, conduct live classes, and more.

NFT platform Fantico raises undisclosed sum from Animoca Brands to build Indian metaverse

Fantico, a premium licensed digital collectible platform, today announced it has raised an undisclosed sum in a private round from Animoca Brands and private investors across Asia.

VistaVerse, the metaverse to be launched by Fantico, will consist of virtual land, a series of blockchain games, curated and user-generated experiences, and its NFT marketplace, the startup claimed. Fantico has already launched its marketplace, which features both physical and digital collectibles, focusing on both crypto and non-crypto user bases.

As a portfolio company of Singapore-based Vistas Media Capital — the parent company that has diversified into media and entertainment — Fantico will leverage its content such as movies, music, and gaming resources to build with an experience-first approach.

D2C oral care brand Perfora raises $260K in pre-seed round led by Sauce.vc

Oral care brand Perfora today announced it has raised a pre-seed round of $260,000 from a clutch of consumer-focused investors. The pre-seed round was led by Sauce.vc, a venture capital fund that backs early-stage consumer brands.

Sauce.vc is an early investor in brands like The Whole Truth Foods, Bare Anatomy, Mokobara, etc.

Other investors that participated in the round are Huddle, an early-stage accelerator (founded by Sanil Sachar and Ishaan Khosla), and a few renowned consumer brand entrepreneurs such as Bala Sarda, Founder and CEO, Vahdam Teas; Sameer Mehta, Co-founder, Boat Lifestyle and Shashank Mehta, Founder, The Whole Truth Foods.

ALSO READ

[Funding alert] Lido Learning raises $10M investment led by Unilazer Ventures

TIW India Buyout Fund invests Rs 30 Cr (~$3.94M) in Huechem Textiles - maker of Chromozome products

TIW Capital Group’s TIW India Buyout Fund today announced it has invested Rs 30 crore in Huechem Textiles — which manufactures, distributes, and markets men’s everyday wear products under the brand Chromozome.

With the funding, TIW will partner with Huechem on growth strategies and bring operating efficiencies as it now focuses on middle-level and premium segments of the industry, which is expected to account for 46 percent of the men’s innerwear market.

Established in 2001, Huechem Textiles is headquartered in Mumbai and has a base in Tirupur, near Coimbatore.

Fintech startup Tyke raises $1.5M in pre-seed round from 9Unicorns, Venture Catalysts and others

Tyke, the Mumbai-based fintech startup, announced it has raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding from 9Unicorns, Better Capital, Ratio Ventures, and Venture Catalysts. Angels including Jitendra Gupta, Sweta and Amrish Rau, Varun Mittal, Sandeep Aggarwal, Navin Surya, and Ajay Rajan also participated in the round.

The startup said it plans to use the funding to build distinguished products for companies to digitise and democratise their fundraise.

Launched in mid-2021, Tyke has leveraged software to enable startups to transact and complete their fundraises digitally and instantly. It aims to disrupt the way angel investment networks, venture capital and individuals invest in the business.