Giga Fun Studios, Trezi, Turns, and others raise early-stage funding rounds
Here are the startups that announced early-stage rounds of funding on January 11, 2023.
Giga Fun Studios raises $2.4M in seed round
Bengaluru-based casual gaming startup raised $2.4 million in a seed round led by Lumikai and . All In Capital, , and Riverwalk Holdings also participated in this round.
The company will utilise the funds to create a new benchmark in casual games built to high quality for Indian and global audiences.
“We believe that culture-themed casual games have the potential to unlock massive disruption in the gaming space in India. We’re excited to be partnering with Giga Fun Studios at an early stage, and look forward to supporting them with our deep gaming expertise and network on their mission to build a match3 engine that’ll allow them to build high-quality games,” said Justin Shriram Keeling, Founding General Partner of Lumikai.
Founded by Krishnendu Mukherjee, Rahul Daga, and Rahul Shekhar, the startup focuses on designing games with geo accessibility across the full game stack, including simple but compelling game loops, customised UI/UX design for domestic gamers, accessible pricing, and distribution via third-party app stores.
Trezi raises over $2M in Series A round
Metaverse platform raised over $2 million in its Series A funding round led by World V and , along with and .
The company will utilise the funds to accelerate its platform development in the metaverse and its entry into high-potential new geographies.
“Trezi's product can immediately demonstrate how the future would look like on a decision taken today with regards to your building at large and interiors of your taste. This is done not just in the form of 2D or 3D images or videos but with an immersive environment, where one can virtually walk and take a tour. This in itself is very powerful and can emanate many other possibilities in the immediate future,” Shailesh Churiwala, Partner, World V, said.
Created in 2018 by Tithi and Gautam Tewari, Trezi is an immersive design communication and collaboration platform for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, which allows users to leverage the power of immersive tech and metaverse.
It operates on a SaaS model and allows clients to upload architectural models for viewing, editing, and remote collaboration in real-time.
Trezi’s other investors include IAN Fund, Indian Angel Network, Rockstud Capital, and Stanford Angels, among others.
Showroom B2B closes $1.35M in seed round
Showroom B2B, an end-to-end supply chain platform in the fashion and apparel category, raised $1.35 million in a seed round led by Strive VC and . , Panthera Peak Capital, , , Relentless VC, and other marquee investors also participated in the round.
The startup will use the funds to open new experience stores, strengthen its technology infrastructure, build a seamless customer experience, expand its network of retailers and manufacturers, and add new innovations for Bharat and export markets.
“Showroom B2B is organising the massively long-tailed apparel supply chain in India with a simple promise - to provide a broad selection of apparel to retailers at competitive prices compared to unorganised channels. As a result of their demand-first product-led approach, they have seen rapid adoption across Tier II+ cities in India. We are thrilled to be partnering with Abhishek, Shubham, and the team on their journey,” Siddharth Verma, Principal at Strive VC, said.
Showroom B2B, started by Abhishek Dua and Shubham Gupta in 2021, combines digital and physical markets to offer a unique proposition to manufacturers and retailers.
Turns secures $500,000 pre-seed funding
Laundromat SaaS startup raised $500,000 in pre-seed funding led by , PointOne Capital, and a set of angel investors.
Founded in 2022 by Sukanth Srivastav and Vishal Gupta, Turns helps laundromats deliver a modern experience to their users with a full-stack software and hardware-integrated solution. The founders build the startup using the learnings from another laundry startup they had built in India in 2015.
“Vertical SaaS is a massive opportunity that is being unlocked by a new generation of companies that bring a modern Uber and DoorDash-like experience to users across a wide range of verticals. Toast did it for restaurants and Turns is doing that for laundromats. We are excited to be ground zero partners to Sukanth and Vishal as they pursue this large vision,” Vaibhav Domkundwar of Better Capital, said.
Turns claims to have signed up over 50 laundromats and dry cleaners across eight countries, including the US, India, and UAE. The startup will primarily focus on the US market and is targeting 1,000 customers in the next 12-18 months.
Awaz raises pre-seed funding
AI-based app , run by jobtech startup True Voice Technologies, raised an undisclosed pre-seed funding round from angel investors, including Groww co-founders Lalit Keshre and Harsh Jain, actor Radhika Apte, and former CEO and Co-founder of Freecultr, Sujal Shah.
With this fundraise, the company aims to broaden its user and client base specifically in high-churn job profiles.
“For us, the funding is a vote of confidence from our investors on our novel approach to solving an age-old recruitment problem. In just under one month of launch, we have over 7,500 users on the Awaz app—a testament to a growing aspirant's need for a better solution for their job search and application needs,” Aniket Anand, Co-founder of Awaz, said.
Founded in December 2022 by Rachna Gothi, Aniket Anand, and Moulesh Kumar, Awaz aims to transform the way aspirants approach job search by offering video interviews as a part of the application process. It uses AI/ML algorithms to screen the applications and provide leads to recruiters.
Awaz plans to launch AI-generated interview feedback for its users to help them improve their communication skills and interview performance.
Salad raises $270,000 in pre-seed round
Femtech startup has raised $270,000 in its pre-seed round led by Antler India via the VC firm’s Antler India Residency initiative.
“The increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases is a trend that cannot be ignored and demands new-age interventions that use technology. Additionally, women continue to be an underserved segment regarding most healthcare solutions, particularly the ones hormonal health-related. Aruna and Karishma are a fitting team to build for this problem—bringing a nuanced understanding of healthcare solutions, coupled with skills to build products for scale,” Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner at Antler India, said.
Founded by Aruna Chawla and Karishma Rathaur in 2022, Salad’s mobile app—a cycle-synced lifestyle planner for women—offers a comprehensive solution to manage hormonal health at the root throughout the month by providing access to personalised and bio-individual plans in line with personal health goals, underlying conditions, and menstrual cycle data.
Boingg raises Rs 2 Cr in a pre-Series A round
D2C kids-focused furniture brand has raised Rs 2 crore in a pre-Series A round led by .
The company will use the funds to expand machinery, licensing, and branding of the company.
“The kids' furniture market is a white space with no clear leader as it is a highly unorganised segment, lacking quality and designer products specially made for kids. Boingg is aiming to disrupt this market as they grow their online and offline presence prompting us to lead the second round in the company,” Vinay Bansal, Founder and CEO, Inflection Point Ventures, said.
Founded by Neha Indoria and Dhruvan Barar, Boingg offers full customisation of furniture focused on children and all elements of their home life. It provides customisations in real-time, helping parents design their kids’ rooms with functional furniture, completing the look.
Omnivore backs animal nutrition startup eFeed
has invested in , an animal nutrition and health company manufacturing innovative products for livestock. This is Omnivore’s third life sciences investment under its OmniX Bio initiative.
eFeed will strengthen its R&D operations, expand its farmer network, and focus on talent acquisition with the funds.
“Omnivore is delighted to back eFeed under our OmniX Bio initiative, which seeks to blaze a path forward for agrifood life sciences in India. We are proud to support eFeed’s bold vision for revolutionising animal nutrition and health in India,” Mark Kahn, Managing Partner of Omnivore, said.
Based out of Pune, eFeed was founded in 2021 by Kumar Ranjan, Ravi Chauhan, and Ankit Patel. At present, eFeed claims to have a network of three lakh farmers and has launched multiple products to improve lactation, solve infertility, and enhance cattle's general health/immunity.
Burma Burma raises $2M from Negen Capital, others
Restaurant chain and Tea Room raised $2 million in a seed round from Negen Capital. Bbigplas Poly also participated in the round along with Finnet Media. The influencer management agency pooled money from their creator rooster to invest in the Burmese-themed restaurant's seed round, according to a press release.
The restaurant chain will use these funds to increase its presence by opening up eight new outlets in the next 15 months. Burma Burma has seven restaurants across Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Noida, among other cities.
Dorje Teas raises Rs 30 lakh on Shark Tank
Dorje Teas raised Rs 30 lakh from Vineeta Singh (Sugar Cosmetics), Peyush Bansal (Lenskart), and Shaadi.com's Anupam Mittal on Shark Tank, according to a press release.
Founded in June 2021 by Sparsh Agarwal, an Ashoka University alumnus, and Ishaan Kanoria, a former investment banker, the tea venture plans on using the funds for the HORECA segment, including hotels, restaurants, and cafes, among other places.
NewsReach raises Rs 1 Cr from Startup Stairs' Growth Acceleration Programme
Digital media platform raised Rs 1 crore in seed funding as part of the Growth Acceleration Programme with 4i. The Ahmedabad-based startup was among the top 15 winners of the initiative run by Startup Stairs, an accelerator working with startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Started in August 2018 by Darshan Shah, NewsReach enables publishers and content creators in rural and semi-urban areas to go digital.
(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)
Edited by Suman Singh