[Funding roundup] Text Mercato, Moneyboxx Finance, Garuda Aerospace raise early-stage deals

Text Mercato raises $2.6 million in Pre-Series A round

Bengaluru-based cataloguing and content technology company Text Mercato has raised $2.6 million in Pre-Series A round led by 1Crowd, Mount Judi Ventures, and US-based Innospark Ventures.

The round also saw participation from Modulor Capital, Tremis Capital, and ah! Ventures. The company had previously raised over $1 million, bringing the total fundraise to $4 million as of date.

Founded by Kiran Ramakrishna and Subhajit Mukherjee, Text Mercato's product Cataloging.ai powers product listing automation and content creation through a suite of AI products addressing data sourcing and management, photo sourcing and automation, text recognition, text generation, and translation at scale for online marketplaces, brands, and sellers.

“The capital raised will be used invested in technology in enhancing automation capabilities and category coverage, as well as launch of an exciting DIY (Do-it-Yourself) platform named Rubick.ai, that will support end-to-end cataloguing for small and medium brands," said Subhajit Mukherjee, Founder, Text Mercato.

The company now processes over one million SKUs (stock-keeping units) per month, with a 3X increase in revenue run rate of last year, and this revenue is expected to grow quadruple in the current financial year.

Moneyboxx Finance raises $2.6 million to fund AUM growth

Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) Moneyboxx Finance raises $2.6 million from non-promoter investors to fund AUM growth and branch expansion.

Started in February 2019, Moneyboxx currently has 30 branches spread across five states—Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. 

Moneyboxx provides unsecured and secured business loans to individual borrowers (livestock farmers, kirana, traders, micro-manufacturers) in Tier-III cities and below with loans ranging from Rs 70,000 to Rs 7,00,000.

“We at Moneyboxx Finance aim to provide credit to underserved micro-businesses and entrepreneurs in a cost-effective and transparent manner. The equity fundraise along with growing and continuous support from our lenders will help us to further our cause of supporting the deserving micro-enterprises and create a positive impact in this segment,” said Deepak Aggarwal, Co-founder, Moneyboxx Finance.

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Chennai startup Garuda Aerospace to combat COVID-19 by using drones to disinfect 26 cities

Drone startup Garuda Aerospace raises funds from MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has invested an undisclosed amount of funding in Chennai-based drone startup Garuda Aerospace. 

"I’m happy to be a part of Garuda Aerospace and look forward to witnessing their growth story with the unique drone solutions they have to offer,” said MS Dhoni.

Founded in 2016 by Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Garuda Aerospace is equipped with 300 drones and 500 pilots operating in 26 cities.

"I've always been an ardent admirer of Mahi bhai, and to have him as a part of the Garuda Aerospace family is honestly a dream come true," said Agnishwar. "Mahi bhai is the epitome of dedication and I firmly believe that having Captain Cool on our cap table adds tremendous value which will motivate our team to perform better.”

Dhoni will also be the brand ambassador for Garuda Aerospace. Last month, the startup raised an undisclosed amount in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Ocgrow Ventures and other HNIs, where Instarto acted as the financial advisor.