[Funding roundup] BharatX, Parallel Dots, Bytebeam, Fanztar, EasyRewardz, Revoh Innovations, House of Kieraya, AyuRythm raise early-stage capital

BharatX raises $4.5 million from YC to enable embedded credit

Consumer credit venture BharatX has raised $4.5 million in a seed round from Y Combinator, 8i Ventures, Multiply Ventures, Soma Capital, and other investors, to enable embedded credit in the Indian market.

The round also saw participation from existing investor Java Capital, and marquee angels including Arash Ferdowsi, Co-founder, Dropbox; Harshil Mathur, CEO and Co-founder, Razorpay; Shashank Kumar, Founder, Razorpay; Varun Alagh, Co-founder and CEO, Mamaearth; Kunal Shah, Founder and CEO, CRED; Ankur Aggarwal, Co-founder, Dunzo; and Vikas Choudhury, President, Reliance Jio.

“Consumers of India deserve a better class of credit products out there. Today, if you look at the landscape, most players have low credit eligibility approval rates, long documentation sign-up processes and unethical collection practices. We want to give the middle class of India easy access to credit products that they deserve yet are not able to access today, while setting the bar for world-class UX and customer service while doing so,” said Mehul Jindal, Co-founder and CEO, BharatX.

The funds raised will be used to build and expand the team, enhance and develop the product further and for market expansion. Powered with a “credit approval rate” of 45 – 55 percent, which is 3-4X the market standard, BharatX aims to increase the credit stack on offer by launching new product verticals such as UPI Credit, Pay in 3, and 15/30 day cycle products like Credit Cards.

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Parallel Dots raises $4.5 million in series A round

AI startup Parallel Dots has raised $4.5 million in a series A round led by Btomorrow Ventures. The round also saw participation from ParallelDots existing investor Multipoint Capital.

The investment will help ParallelDots accelerate their product development roadmap and fuel global expansion.

ParallelDots will also use the fresh capital for product innovations that bring simplicity, leverage evolving technology, and harness the power of artificial intelligence to help CPG manufacturers grow and navigate digital disruption better. ParallelDots aims to invest in new talent and expand its team across all verticals.

Founded by Angam Parashar, Ankit Narayan Singh and Muktabh Mayank Srivastava in 2017, ParallelDots works with companies around the world and specialises in Image Recognition. ParallelDots’ flagship product, ShelfWatch was launched in 2018, helping CPG manufacturers and retailers optimise retail execution and maximise sales.

Bytebeam raises $3 million in seed to simplify IoT applications

Bengaluru-headquartered bytebeam.io has raised a seed round of $3 million from Together Fund, Accel, and STRIVE VC. 

The round also saw participation from AdvantEdge VC backed by the Motherson Group; Phanindra Sama, Founder of Redbus; Tanmai Gopal, Co-founder of Hasura; Vimal Kumar, Founder of Juspay; Mekin Maheshwari, Ex-CPO at Flipkart; Deepak Anchala, Founder of Slintel; Aakrit Vaish, Founder of Jio Haptik; and other angel investors.

The funds raised will be deployed towards building technical expertise in the team, evolving the platform offering, and establishing a business with reach across verticals like electric mobility, agritech, drone tech, smart appliances, and more, the company said.

Founded in 2019 by Gautam BT, Ravi Teja, and Bharadwaaj Ramakrishnan, Bytebeam allows companies to manage all their IoT requirements on a single platform. The platform allows for customisable dashboards to generate data analytics and insights.

“Cloud services for IoT currently represents a $14 billion market opportunity growing at 48 percent CAGR,” says Gautam BT, CEO and Co-founder at Bytebeam. “We are excited to capture a fair share of this massive market opportunity. Having marquee investors back us strengthens our belief in our product,” he further added. 

Bytebeam had earlier raised $250,000 in pre-seed from Accel India via the Atoms programme by Accel India. It supports pre-seed startups with easy access to non-dilutive capital, mentorship from founders and operators, and a community to help them grow.

EasyRewardz raises $2 million from IIFL Fintech Fund

Easyrewardz Software Services has raised $2 million in a Series B round from early-stage investing vehicle IIFL Fintech Fund. 

EasyRewardz will use the capital infusion to expand its operations and develop new products. 

“As we double down our focus on expanding our CRM platform to BFSI, we look forward to learning from IIFL and working together with them closely to co-create platform extensions for this domain. Evolving out of COVID-19, EasyRewardz has taken major strides in exploring new markets outside India and new domains in India This investment from IIFL will help accelerate these initiatives,” said Soumya Chatterjee, CEO, EasyRewardz.

Founded in 2011 by Tejas Kadakia, Soumya Chatterjee, Angad Singh, and Sapan Kadakia, the startup offers industry agnostic cloud based CRM, loyalty, and conversational commerce solutions that enable seamless omnichannel customer experience. The company’s key clients of the company in the BFSI space include- RBL Bank, ICICI Bank, and Bajaj Finserve.

EasyRewardz had raised funds from Transcontinental Venture and Flipkart earlier.

Fanztar raises $646k in seed round led by India Quotient

Fanztar, a Web3 platform for the creator economy, has raised $646,000 in a seed round led by India Quotient, a seed-to-early-stage venture capital firm.

The round also saw participation from ShareChat founders Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Pratap Singh and Farid Ahsan, along with Sarthak Misra (Softbank India), Manohar Charan (CFO, ShareChat), and Tarsame Mittal (TM Ventures).

Fanztar plans to utilise the funds towards robust product development to cater to the evolving market demands. The Web3 platform will expand their technology and business teams and empower breakthrough creators across the nation. 

Fanztar will also allocate the funds towards product innovation and launching the industry-led product in the market to drive the future of creator monetisation.

“We are heading towards a future where Web3 will upend business models across industries. For the first time, fans now have an opportunity to become part of the value creation journey of a creator, enabling them to become active players in the process rather than be passive consumers of content. For creators, we are opening up a new channel of monetisation, engagement and advocacy in the form of incentivised fans,” said Himanshu Garg, Co- founder and CEO, Fanztar.

Founded by IIT Delhi graduates Himanshu Garg and Sahil Singla, Fanztar is a Web3 platform enabling Fans to invest in creators and content driving the future of creator monetisation.

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EV motor controller maker Revoh raises Rs $150K in seed round

IIT-Madras incubated electric vehicle sub-component manufacturing startup Revoh Innovations has raised funds $150,000 from angel investors Vel Kanniappan and Ravi Renganathan in a seed round.

Revoh Innovations' R&D, manufacturing, and operations are based out of IIT-M Research Park and is looking forward to setting up a standalone manufacturing unit with the help of received seed funds in SIPCOT, Chennai. The R&D division will continue to function from IIT-M Research Park.

“Despite numerous hurdles, our sheer perseverance kept us and will keep us going strong! Indeed, the learnings have been enormous. Whatever it takes, Revoh never gives up and will cruise through!”said Vignesh D, CEO, Revoh Innovations.

Founded in 2019, Revoh's primary goal is to localise the manufacturing of electric vehicle subcomponents. Revoh Innovations, at present, can produce 2,000 motor controllers per month for various applications such as EV, healthcare, solar energy, industrial, agriculture, and domestic uses. 

They have around 25 reputed clients across MNCs and start-ups. Furthermore, they have tie-ups with several motor manufacturers in India. Revoh has also exported the BLDC controllers to clients in the UK and Netherlands.

Health and wellness platform FlexifyMe raises $300k

Health and wellness platform FlexifyMe has raised a seed round. The round saw participation from Ravi Bhushan, Founder and CEO, BrightChamps, Amit Ratanpal, Founder, Blinc Management, Sachin Anand, Sales Director APJ, Intel, and Dipen Shah, Managing Director, VAG-group, amongst others.

The newly raised funds will be used to acquire talent, boost technological capabilities, and train top-certified Yoga, Meditation, and Nutrition instructors.

Founded by Manjeet Singh & Amit Bhayani in October 2021, FlexifyMe has combined yoga, meditation, and ayurvedic diet with modern sciences to produce an all-encompassing wellness regimen that addresses its users’ physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

“We aim to offer a customised approach that focuses not only on physical health but also on mental health in order to live a healthy and happy life. The latest round of funding will allow us to further invest in developing a technology platform that will aid in the creation and delivery of customised one-on-one bespoke health and wellness programs,” said Manjeet Singh, Co-founder, FlexifyMe.

Mine digitalization tech startup KiarX raised $150k

Mine digitalization tech startup KiarX has raised $150k from Shuru up, a digital start-up ecosystem. The funding will be used for team building, marketing, and further development and up-gradation of the products.

Founded in 2020, the Ahmedabad based mine management tech start-up focuses on the digitalization of the mining industry starting with the coal mining sector. It took the company a span of 2 years to develop the complete product which includes both hardware and software.

Currently, the early-stage start-up has scheduled multiple demos at multiple sites across India. KiarX is also planning to expand to the global mining industry which may first include Indonesia and Australia.

“Growing up in an environment surrounded by the mining industry, I have seen the nitty-gritty of it and long felt a deep drought for a market fit product. About time, I decided to get my hands dirty. With KiarX, I am executing my longstanding vision to revolutionise the industry,” said Nitesh Singh, CEO, KiarX.

Furlenco’s parent company House of Kieraya (HoK) raises capital

House of Kieraya (HoK), well known for its brand Furlenco, has raised an undisclosed amount of revenue-based financing through Klub, a revenue-based financing platform.

The company will use the fresh funds to strengthen its business by scaling its operations.

Founded by Ajith Mohan Karimpana, the company now has presence in major Indian cities including Bengaluru, Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, and Pune among others.

The startup’s offerings include a wide range of furniture and appliances. Apart from Furlenco, in recent quarters, the company has expanded its offering through UNLMTD, Furbicle, and Prava.

“We are delighted to raise funds through Klub’s platform as it allows us to operate and scale our business without any equity dilution. With lifestyle evolving in urban India at an exponential rate, we constantly need to tap into newer potentials and with Klub’s founder-friendly funding approach, we are able to get through this exciting phase,” said Ajith Mohan Karimpana, Founder, HoK.

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AyuRythm raises seed round from Indian Angel Network

Bengaluru-based wellness platform AyuRythm has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Indian Angel Network (IAN).

The company aims to utilise the freshly raised funds to enhance technology and increase its user base by providing real-time health assessment and wellness recommendations via smartphones. The startup will also focus on strategic collaboration with other brands and its expansion and distribution plans.

Started in 2018 by Abhilesh Gupta, Sandeep Acharya, and Ramanath Padmanabham, AyuRythm provides solutions based on the teachings of Ayurveda, yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises with personalised diet charts and nutrition plans.

Funds from the fresh investment round will be used to enhance AyuRythm’s workforce marketing and sales operations. It also aims to expand the team with developers, engineers, and ecommerce architects.

In addition, the round also saw participation from SucSEED and other marquee angel investors. AyuRythm, which has been a part of Apple Design accelerator, and Google and MeiTy Startup Hub’s Appscale Academy Class of 2022, featured on Shark Tank India recently and raised Rs 75 lakh.

Ultrahuman raises funds from Nithin Kamath

Fitness platform Ultrahuman has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a Series A round from Nithin Kamath, Founder of Zerodha; Balaji Srinivasan (ex-Coinbase); and Preethi Kasireddy (ex-a16z) among others.

Founded by Mohit Kumar and Vatsal Singhal, Ultrahuman is a fitness platform that helps people optimise their metabolism through real-time biomarkers like glucose in combination with HRV, sleep and activity insights.

“A big part of living healthier is tracking your diet and eating right, but the problem is doing this accurately is tricky. The approach that Ultrahuman is taking to tackle this problem of improving metabolic fitness by using biomarkers is really interesting,” said Nithin Kamath, Founder of Zerodha.

Ultrahuman has raised over $25 million to date. Existing investors include Alpha Wave, Steadview Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Blume Ventures and Utsav Somani’s iSeed fund, and a range of other angel investors including Tiger Global’s Scott Schleifer.

The Legal Capsule raises funds from SucSEED Indovation

The Legal Capsule has raised an undisclosed amount from Hyderabad-based SucSEED Indovation Fund and angel investors including S Ramadorai (Former CEO of TCS), Kiran Deshpande (Former CEO of Tech Mahindra), Ravi Nigam (Founder and Former MD of Tasty Bite), Shashank Deshpande (Managing Partner at Pentathlon Ventures), Vineet Patni (Managing Partner at Wepartner Consult), Shantanu Deshpande (Founder of Bombay Shaving Company), and a few others.

“We believe effective contract management is a must for every enterprise to fully secure their interests and we endeavour to help them in the digital transformation of this very important space TLC has been helping mid and large sector enterprises to manage and automate contracts right from drafting to execution and renewals,” said Gautami Raiker, Co-founder and CEO, The Legal Capsule.

“This seed funding will help us to strengthen our efforts on client acquisition, accelerating team hirings and global expansion strategy,” she added.

The Legal Capsule provides an AI-powered contract lifecycle management platform, enabling SMEs and large enterprises to automate their processes in order to handle end-to-end contract management while reducing time, cost and risks with legal contracts.

Proprietary software helps to manage all compliance, renewals and tasks pertaining to contracts with notifications, thereby mitigating risk for an enterprise.

Cloutflow raises seed round from Aroa Ventures

Cloutflow, a one-stop solution for online content creators to manage their business and for brands to carry out influencer marketing campaigns, has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round led by Aroa Ventures, an investment initiative of Ritesh Agarwal's family office.

The funds raised have been earmarked for the advancement of technology, ramping up of marketing initiatives, attracting new talent, and to scale up brand expansion to meet market demands.

“We feel that there is a big opportunity in the content creators arena, and this funding round will help us in bolstering our operations and expansion plans. The next generation of retailers are going to be virtual and we are here to help facilitate that change,” said Vanshika Batra, Co-founder of Cloutflow.

Founded in November 2021, Cloutflow leverages AI-powered content analysis and cross-channel data to help brands make the right decisions when it comes to influencer marketing.