Startup news and updates: daily roundup (September 19, 2022)

Merak Ventures appoints Sreya Rakshit as Director, Brand and Communications

Merak Ventures, a sector-agnostic, early-stage venture capital (VC) firm, has appointed Sreya Rakshit as Director, Brand and Communications. Merak Ventures announced its maiden $100 million fund in August this year. At Merak, she will be the brand custodian ensuring message integrity across all communication vehicles – public relations, digital, social, advertising and partnerships.

Over the last two decades, Sreya has worked across global PR consultancies, multinational corporations, and emerging startups.

Sreya studied BA (Hons) in English from Delhi University, followed by an Advanced Media Studies post graduate diploma from Xavier Institute of Communication, Mumbai.

Ecom Express announces Group Personal Accident Insurance to safeguard delivery partners

Ecom Express, a technology-driven full stack logistics solutions provider to the ecommerce industry, has announced that it will provide Group Personal Insurance cover to its delivery partners. The GPA will ensure that in the event of any unfortunate occurrence on-trip while delivering ecommerce parcels, comprehensive financial protection will be provided against expenses incurred due to injury, disablement or death resulting from accidental injury.

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Delivery Partners who use the Company’s ‘Ecom Sanjeev’ app to access flexible earning opportunities across India will be automatically covered under the insurance policy. Besides accidental death, permanent total disability, permanent partial disability, child education, medical expenses (OPD and IPD) and more, the company will provide accidental insurance of up to Rs 2 lakh for delivery partners.

All delivery partners of Ecom Express are eligible for receiving GPA insurance benefits.

HomeLane launches its first studio in Salem

Home interior startup HomeLane has launched its first studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu to address the growing consumer demand. This endeavour is part of the company’s strategic plan to expand its presence across South Indian markets, including Tamil Nadu. The new studio spreads across an area of 1500 sq ft and is located at Brindavan Road, which is central to several upcoming residential areas.

Keeping consumer preferences in mind, the studio at Salem is curated with different kitchens, bedrooms and other display setups that allow potential customers to touch, feel and experience the quality of products offered by HomeLane. In addition, customers can meet their dedicated designer and proceed to design their interiors in 3D for free during their first design consultation. 

D2C footwear brand Bacca Bucci eyes expansion, targets 100 pc YoY growth in FY 22-23​

D2C footwear brand Bacca Bucci is planning to expand its wings to cover a larger market share in the fashion and lifestyle segment. The home-grown brand recorded a net figure Rs 32.8 crore  in FY 2021 -2022 and it has set a target of 100 percent YoY growth in FY 22-23 to reach Rs 67 crore GMV. 

Under its expansion plans, the company has introduced new product ranges such as Bacca Bucci kids’ footwear, Bacca Bucci plus-size footwear and is readying itself to launch a range of products with offerings such as fanny packs, caps, tees, etc in the coming months to become India's leading fashion brand. 

Bacca Bucci has served more than five million Gen Z and Millennial customers to date. 

Having registered pan-India presence, it is now eyeing big expansion overseas, starting with baccabucci.ae in UAE, and some other nations. The brand also takes pride in being an environment-conscious brand, doing its bit to create sustainable products. 

Neuron Energy expects Rs 50 Cr turnover from its partnership with KLB Komaki Pvt Ltd

Neuron Energy Pvt Ltd, a bootstrapped startup that has established itself in the battery manufacturing segment, supplying Lithium-Ion and Lead-Acid batteries to the EV sector in India, has entered into a strategic partnership with KLB Komaki Pvt Ltd, a major player in the electric two-wheeler segment since 2016. 

Under this partnership, Neuron Energy will deliver 15,000 battery packs per year, generating an approximate revenue of Rs 50 crore annually with a monthly order value of Rs 4 crore. The bluetooth-enabled batteries are not just one of the most innovative offerings of Neuron but also possess the advantage of being repaired remotely.

Paytm tokenises over 52M cards across VISA, Mastercard and RuPay

One97 Communications Limited (OCL) which owns the brand Paytm, a digital payments and financial services company and the pioneer of QR and digital payments, has announced that it has now tokenised over 93 percent of the monthly active cards on the  Paytm app. With this, the company has made significant progress in the card-on-file tokenisaton initiative by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

The company has tokenised 52.3 million cards across VISA, Mastercard and RuPay in  its effort to make card transactions safer and drive convenience for consumers. This  brings with it faster checkouts, as well as success rates that are at par or higher compared  to saved cards.  

With this, the company remains on track to meet RBI’s deadline to purge saved card data ahead of the RBI deadline.  

RBI’s Card-on-file tokenization mandate requires all online platforms to comply with the  new initiative and make digital payments secure for citizens. As per the RBI’s guidelines,  all online merchants/ecommerce stores have to comply with the card-on-file tokenisation feature by September 30, 2022. 

ParkMate raises seed round led by We Founder Circle

ParkMate, a smart parking solution startup, has raised an undisclosed seed round of funding led by We Founder Circle (WFC). This funding was facilitated through EvolveX, the accelerator programme of WFC.

This startup plans to use this capital for hiring and product development.

ParkMate parking solution allows the end user to enter the destination credentials they want to visit and at the parking arrival, ParkMate’s dedicated parking attendant waits for assistance. The ParkMate attendant not only drives the car to the nearest available parking lot but also parks it for the client.

ParkMate Co-founder and CEO Dhananjaya Bharadwaj said, “Our technology and innovation are what we believe in, and now with WFCs guidance, we are sure to grow in the right direction. We are confident that this investment will pay off and contribute to our mission and help us scale quickly.”

On the investment into ParkMate, Bhawna Bhatnagar, Co-founder of We Founder Circle, said, “Most Indian cities have unmanaged and haphazard parking, forcing citizens to park any type of vehicle in any location and in any direction. With ParkMate’s solutions, the parking system can be altered in a significant way, providing considerable benefits to society.”

MoneyPlanned raises Rs 2.5 Cr in seed round led by IPV

Fintech startup MoneyPlanned has raised over Rs 2.5 crore in a seed round of funding led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV). The round also saw participation from other investors such as Expert Dojo, Joseph R Saviano of Dot Capital, and Sameer Khan from DBS Bank Singapore, along with other angel investors. 

MoneyPlanned plans use this capital for marketing activity, technology infrastructure and expanding its teams.

Founded in July 2020 by Sameer Shashank Gattupalli and Nikhila Putcha, MoneyPlanned is a personal finance platform app for millennials that offers comprehensive financial goal planning, automated advice across asset classes, simple and easy transactions along with financial footprint consolidation.

Sameer Shashank Gattupalli, Founder and CEO, MoneyPlanned said, “Our mission is to create the best platform for automating financial fitness (with our patented tech) and to enable unparalleled access to a modern ecosystem of financial products and services.”

Vinay Bansal, Founder CEO, Inflection Point Ventures, said, “India has a large base of salaried people with more youngsters joining the workforce every year. Financial planning is not a luxury anymore but a necessity, that's one of the biggest learning from the Covid pandemic. Thus, from a market opportunity perspective, MoneyPlanned’s platform is built to offer a personalised service at scale.”

(This copy will be updated with the latest news throughout the day)