[Funding roundup] Finarkein Analytics, StockDaddy, Presolv360, others raise early-stage deals

Finarkein Analytics raises seed round funding led by IIFL, Info Edge

Pune-based Finarkein Analytics announced seed funding round co-led by IIFL’s Fintech Fund and Redstart Labs, an Info Edge company. Finarkein Analytics is building a low/no-code workflow orchestration and data analytics platform for India’s current and upcoming Open Digital Ecosystems (ODEs) like the Account Aggregator, ABDM/UHI, ONDC, and more.

Aaryaman Vir Shah’s Prophetic Ventures, Pearl Agarwal’s Eximius Ventures and angels such as Shalini Chhabra of Incipia Advisors, Chirag Jain of Ashika Group also participated in the round, among others.

“ODEs are addressing the fundamental problem of access to quality, structured and authentic data. But our research and experience indicated another cross-industry challenge of making sense of data at speed and scale, while staying compliant with current and upcoming data laws like the Data Protection Bill. Finarkein’s products are addressing this by building a DIY analytics platform that provides organisations with a trusted execution environment. We are witnessing growing interest from BFSI organizations as we help them simplify the technical landscape, experiment at pace and generate tangible business outcomes quickly," said Nikhil Kurhe, Co-founder and CEO of Finarkein Analytics.

StockDaddy raises undisclosed amount from angel investors

Gurugram-based edtech startup StockDaddy, which educates people about investment and trading in stock markets, raised an undisclosed amount from angel investors. StockDaddy will be using the funds for opening centres in the capital cities of all 29 states, boosting technical infrastructure, and team hiring to meet the organisation’s growing needs.  

The round was led by angels in their personal capacity, including TS Shridhar (Executive Director, City Union Bank), Gurmimdar Pal Singh and Jatin Arneja (Directors at Smart Equity Brokers), Avinash Singh (MD, MyBioDx Healthcare), and Anil Goswami (Director at New Green Carriers India).

Alok Kumar, Founder and CEO, StockDaddy, said, “There is a huge untapped potential in the market as not more than 2 percent of Indian population invest in the stock market. Lack of appropriate knowledge and almost zero access to authentic platforms make us a strong contender in this segment. With more than 75,000 customers on the StockDaddy app in less than sixty days somewhat validate our progressive vision and leverage credibility among the stakeholders. The recently raised funds will further expedite our expansion spree.”

ALSO READ

[Weekly funding roundup] Venture investments into Indian startups decline

Online dispute resolution platform Presolv360 raises $1.08M in seed funding

Presolv360, an online dispute resolution (ODR) platform that offers technology-driven new-age solutions for resolving disputes, has raised $1.08 million (Rs 8.13 crore) in seed funding from MGA Ventures (Ashra Family Office), Omidyar Network India, and the round also saw participation from family offices like Inspira Enterprises, M Pallonji, Jeena and Co, Fine Fragrances, and other angel investors.

The funds will be deployed towards developing and integrating newer technologies and team expansion across tech, data and business development as Presolv360 focuses on expanding its user base.

Founded by Bhaven Shah, Namita Shah, and Aman Sanghavi with the vision to “pre-solve” every dispute through the interplay between technology and data, Presolv360’s platform allows enterprises to resolve disputes with their stakeholders out-of-court and capitalize on bespoke offerings such as smart case management, workflow automation, data-driven insights, blockchain-based validation, digital tools, etc., resulting in reduced costs, time and efforts by up to 65 percent.

Presolv360 says it is trusted by 35+ enterprises comprising some of the largest banks, NBFCs, business enterprises, ecommerce players and startups. It has also been incubated by India’s leading law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.

Gigforce secures $2 million from Meraki Labs

Gigforce, a fast-growing on-demand staffing platform, today announced a fresh investment of $2 million from Meraki Labs. With the present investment from Meraki Labs, the gig-tech platform has raised a total of $6 million to date.

The additional fund-raised will be used to further build deep tech and build strong analytics for on-gig performance.

Chirag Mittal, Co-founder and CEO, Gigforce said, “As an organisation, expansion of our team size by more than 2.5x reflects our growth trajectory to grow bigger and better. We have stalwarts from industry continuously joining our leadership team across various functions. The aim is to have 50,000 active Gigers by the end of this year, pacing towards the medium-term goal of having over a million active Gigers by 2025. We are delighted to have Meraki Labs onboard, synced with our vision. We feel encouraged with the trust and support of all our investors.”

“We’re thrilled to join Gigforce in their mission to democratise access to good jobs. The gig economy will solve for India’s burgeoning unemployment crisis in a way that caters to the aspiration and overall wellbeing of gigers. Leveraging technology to build a strong ecosystem will ensure the benefits are equitably distributed and at scale.” said Mridu Jhangiani from Meraki Labs.

Financial platform for gig workers KarmaLife raises $2.2 million in Pre-Series A funding

KarmaLifeAI, India’s 1st real-time credit solutions provider for gig workers, raised $2.2 million in Pre-Series A round, led by Artha Venture Fund (AVF). Netgraph Investment, LV Angel Fund, Singularity Ventures, and Angel investors including Abhinav Sinha (CDC Group PLC), Amit Jain (CEO -Global Equity London), Balesh Sharma (MD -Vodacom South Africa, Ex-CEO Vodafone Idea), Vamsi Udayagiri (Founder Hesa), Vikram Kailas (MD and CEO Mytrah Energy), and Prateek Agarwal (ex-CBO BharatPe), also participated in the round. The fintech platform will utilise the funds for further product development, team expansion, and employer partnerships. This is AVF’s 16th investment from its $33 million micro-VC fund.

Founded by Rohit Rathi, Naveen Budda and Badal Malick, KarmaLife has access to 130,000+ users and is eyeing a 10-fold user growth in the next 12 months. Moreover, the company has been witnessing a 40 percent MoM growth in credit disbursement since July 2021, and will surpass Rs 500 crore in disbursals by the next fiscal. KarmaLife plans to scale its business by partnering with 150+ new employers and will be launching various innovative financial products such as liquid savings and micro-insurance customized for this segment.

Taking a cue from an unmet demand of relevant credit products at an affordable price for the 15 million data-rich but skill-poor workforce, the B2B2C startup solves their liquidity problem and offers financial products linked to their earnings and transaction history as well as mobile usage behaviour. Personalised, subscription-based credit products, such as Earned Wage Access and dynamic line-of-credit, are offered based on proprietary real-time credit scoring system called ‘KarmaScore.’ KarmaLife caters to the gig and contract workers associated with some of the biggest brands such as Flipkart, Delhivery, Zomato, and Uber, among others.