[Funding roundup] Groyyo, EsportsXO, RupeeRedee, Great Manager Institute raise early-stage rounds

Groyyo raises $4.6million led by Alpha Wave Incubation

Groyyo, a B2B manufacturing and automation company, has raised $4.6 million in a seed round led by Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), which is backed by DisruptAD, ADQ’s venture platform, and managed by Falcon Edge Capital.

Founded in July 2021 by Subin Mitra, Pratik Tiwari and Ridam Upadhyay, Mumbai-headquartered Groyyo is aiming to transform the manufacturing sector with technology such as real-time production software that digitises factories by enabling production tracking and intelligent inputs to optimise efficiency and gives them a global outreach to international and national buyers.

Marquee angels including Deepak Jain, Arpan Seth of Bain and Co, Maninder Gulati of OYO Group, and early investors Sparrow Capital and notable venture-debt fund Stride Ventures also participated in this round.

The company plans to use the funds to build out its teams across South Asia and expand its presence across the United States and the Middle-west. It will also invest in the technological & physical upgradation of its manufacturing partners.

SaaS-based tournament discovery platform EsportsXO raised $1.1 million

EsportsXO, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) gaming tournament discovery platform, has raised $1.1 million in seed round from Mumbai Angels Network, a platform for early-stage investments.

EsportsXO was founded in 2020 by Utsav Umang, Rohit Raj, and Vikas Goel. The platform allows game publishers and brands to launch custom tournaments to engage users. It also plans to build an e-sports metaverse for fans and players and already has over 1.5 lakh registered users within 90 days.

The round also saw participation by We Founder Circle, Wami Capital, SucSEED Indovation Fund, FAAD Network, SOSV, and other investors.

“Esports in India is at the same stage where ecommerce was 15 years ago; there is an abundance of opportunities for everyone. The market in India and the rest of the APAC region is huge, which gives us enough room for creativity and growth,” said co-founder Vikas Goel, adding, “The latest capital infusion will allow us to expand our team and reach.”

FincFriends digital lending platform RupeeRedee raises $1M in debt

RupeeRedee, a digital lending platform, has raised $1 million in debt funding from NBFC firm Eclear Leasing and Finance Pvt Ltd.

RupeeRedee is a subsidiary of Digital Finance International, which has more than 20 international fintech brands across several countries. Operating through its captive NBFC FincFriends Private Ltd., RupeeRedee works with multiple NBFCs in the background to facilitate instant personal loans. It started operations in 2018.

The company aims to use the debt in tranches for business expansion, growth and effective cashflows, by building the loan book and replacing the need for equity infusion at the present stage of business.

Great Manager Institute raises funds from angels

People management coaching and certification company, Great Manager Institute, has raised $270,000 from executive leaders — Sanjay Mehta of VCosmos, Ajay Kaul, former CEO of Jubilant Foodworks, and Dr Suresh Surana.

Founded by Prasenjit Bhattacharya, Dalreen Patrao, and Ashwin Srivastava in 2017, Mumbai-based Great Manager Institute, which provides coaching and certification to professionals, is connected with more than 4,000 companies across India and has worked with more than 28,000 people managers and leaders.

It plans to use the funds towards brand revamp and technology development.

“The investment comes from leaders who have demonstrated people leadership themselves and have played significant roles in transforming organizations through people leadership,” said “We shall use their guidance and funds to deliver on our promise of a world-class product from India”, says Prasenjit Bhattacharya, Co-founder and CEO.